Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

Siobhan wrote: "In seriousness, sorry you're having a bad month of it. Feels like it's not worth it if you're not enjoying the books. If you start reading one and you can tell it's shit just abandon the whole seri..."

I'm telling ya, if it keeps going that way I just might abandon the majority of them and earn temeraire haha. I have it on hold, so either way I'm committed to one new fun one. :D

I loved the first 20 books or so. These last 5 are giving me ulcers. If you ever pick up the series, stop after the conclave of shadows trilogy. Everything up til that is golden. :)

Being at the start of my challenge, I get to peruse my large list of Incompletes and pick the best ones to read... in a few months when I'm through with all the series I still really WANT to read, and all I have are fast-publishing romance and PNR series, it might be another matter entirely...

Iain wrote: "Being at the start of my challenge, I get to peruse my large list of Incompletes and pick the best ones to read... in a few months when I'm through with all the series I still really WANT to read, ..."

When you reach that point, I think we should hold hands and abandon at least 20 of them lol.

Yes that's exactly the problem, the better you've done with this challenge, the less you want to read the ones you've left until last!

I think I'm going to have a brain shift and just try and focus on high priority. My new goal is to get through only books on that list haha. If I have to move a series to a lower bracket, that counts as high priority completion.

The biggest trouble is that I'm forcing myself to finish out the Riftwar saga out of loyalty. It's one of the few I'm willing to do that for just to see how he ends the whole thing, but it's making me cranky lol. I won't be obligation reading again anytime soon after this.

I'm wary of adding new big commitments like Riftwar or some others I see you guys reading... if Malazan works out that's already 28 books to read plus I think another 2 trilogies and the end of the current ones...

I'm much more willing to start series with 5-10 books... starting a series with 1-2 books doesn't feel like enough to whet my appetite unless someone else is reading as well and we can discuss... 20+ feels like too much...

When I could binge 10+ books in a row, finding a 20+ book series seemed great... now it just seems like too many chances to never catch up...

The "obligation" thing was totally me with the Ender Shadow series. I honestly had to put it down out of frustration haha. I only have two books left but just am not feeling it anymore.

Hope next month is better Niki. Maybe try a different genre for something new to read. I find that can sometimes helps me when I've read a few books in a row that haven't lived up to the hype (or my own expectations).

Chris wrote: "Niki Hawkes wrote: "This has not been an encouraging month for this challenge. Half the books I read this month towards it were total shit and I'm one more bad novel alway from saying eff-it and ju..."

I'm currently 20th in line at the library. I'll definitely let you know when it gets closer so we can arrange a possible read. We can catch up together haha.

Iain wrote: "I'm wary of adding new big commitments like Riftwar or some others I see you guys reading... if Malazan works out that's already 28 books to read plus I think another 2 trilogies and the end of the..."

I like how Bill is tackling big series like that, and I've kind of adopted it here. If the huge saga is separated into smaller trilogies, then he counts each one as a completion. So for Riftwar, you're only looking at a 2 book commitment at first, then another 2, and so forth. It makes it so much easier to digest lol. They have natural stopping points at the end of each duo/trilogy.

Liam wrote: "The "obligation" thing was totally me with the Ender Shadow series. I honestly had to put it down out of frustration haha. I only have two books left but just am not feeling it anymore."

That's the worst! Especially when the beginnings of the series are among your favorites. It's soooo hard to let those go. I'm really bad at absorbing sunk costs of time spent up to that point (clearly) haha.

Angela wrote: "Hope next month is better Niki. Maybe try a different genre for something new to read. I find that can sometimes helps me when I've read a few books in a row that haven't lived up to the hype (or m..."

Thanks Angela! That's a good suggestion. I think I'm going to pick up a scifi and an uf to pull myself out of this funk.

Finished the Chaoswar trilogy by Feist. My non UTD total is 48. Let the Scott-inspired countdown begin. My goal is to be under 20 by next July. Let's see if I can do it and still start a bunch of new ones. ;P

Niki Hawkes wrote: "Finished the Chaoswar trilogy by Feist. My non UTD total is 48. Let the Scott-inspired countdown begin. My goal is to be under 20 by next July. Let's see if I can do it and still start a bunch of n..."

You can! And once you do it's such a relief you'll never let yourself get back up there again. I figure my total will always float between 4-10 especially since I signed on for 4 different series with between 5-9 published book all starting between November and May.

Good luck Niki. I'm at 50 non-UTD and going to try for 35 by end of next challenge year. I have too many Kindle series open and I'm taking forever to read kindle books.

Bill wrote: "Good luck Niki. I'm at 50 non-UTD and going to try for 35 by end of next challenge year. I have too many Kindle series open and I'm taking forever to read kindle books."

That's a good goal. Think of it this way it's just over one per month. So every month if you basically finish two and start one your making great progress without that feeling of OMG I'm carb starved.

Scott wrote: "Niki Hawkes wrote: "Finished the Chaoswar trilogy by Feist. My non UTD total is 48. Let the Scott-inspired countdown begin. My goal is to be under 20 by next July. Let's see if I can do it and stil..."

I agree - it has been such a process to dig myself out of this hole that I don't think I'll ever let it get this out of hand again. I think under 10 will be my sweet spot. I can't believe how much more I'm enjoying series now.

Good luck with your new goals. I have not set an actual number for myself yet, but I may eventually.

Bill wrote: "Good luck Niki. I'm at 50 non-UTD and going to try for 35 by end of next challenge year. I have too many Kindle series open and I'm taking forever to read kindle books."

Thank you - you too. 35 is a great goal. Many of the ones I'm lagging on are also ebooks. Once I get it down, I'm definitely going to be more conscious of how many I start, as I just can't get through them like I used to. Luckily I have a bunch with only one book left that should help reach my goal by then.

Scott wrote: "Bill wrote: "Good luck Niki. I'm at 50 non-UTD and going to try for 35 by end of next challenge year. I have too many Kindle series open and I'm taking forever to read kindle books."

That's a good..."

Thanks for the great idea/perspective - I'm going to break mine down into monthly goals at some point so I can see if I'm on track right away! ^_^

Tammie wrote: "Good luck with your new goals. I have not set an actual number for myself yet, but I may eventually."

Thanks Tammie. :) I went almost a year without a number goal because I wasn't motivated to commit to more than the general "read more" incomplete. I think finally seeing that I could make progress made me come up with one haha.

10/1 - 39 full weeks to challenge end 7/1

What made you decide on July 1st instead of going a full year?

Bill wrote: "What made you decide on July 1st instead of going a full year?"

July 1st is the anniversary from when I set my first numerical goal. It's when I decided to get serious haha. I calculated the 39 weeks remaining so I can use Scott's suggestion to plan it out a little.

Abandoned Dragon's Blood [3/4] – Jane Yolen. I HATED the third book, so much so that I no longer trust the author to end it well. I highly recommend the first book as a standalone, though.

47 Non-UTD Series.

Challenge Countdown:

To complete my challenge of being under 20 series by 7/1, I need to Finish/Abandon/UTD 1 series every 10 days. I have 27 cycles to complete before the anniversary.

1. [10.2 - 10.11] Dragon's Blood [Abandoned]
2. [10.12 - 10.21]
3. [10.22 - 10.31]
4. [11.1 - 11.10]
5. [11.11 - 11.20]
6. [11.21 - 11.30]
7. [12.1 - 12.10]
8. [12.11 - 12.20]
9. [12.21 - 12.30]
10. [12.31 - 1.9]
11. [1.10 - 1.19]
12. [1.20 - 1.29]
13. [1.30 - 2.8]
14. [2.9 - 2.18]
15. [2.19 - 2.28]
16. [3.1 - 3.10]
17. [3.11 - 3.20]
18. [3.21 - 3.30]
19. [3.31 - 4.9]
20. [4.10 - 4.19]
21. [4.20 - 4.29]
22. [4.30 - 5.9]
23. [5.10 - 5.19]
24. [5.20 - 5.29]
25. [5.30 - 6.8]
26. [6.9 - 6.18]
27. [6.19 - 6.30]

I'll need to finish 2 in 1 cycle to accommodate new series.

...I think I can slaughter this challenge long before then

That's a really interesting way to divide your reading. I'm sure you'll slaughter it in no time.

Very creative way of doing it!

Thanks!! Right now it's more of a way to see if I'm on track for my goal so many months out, but it definitely helped put into perspective how attainable it is. I imagine I'll get way ahead of schedule right away, then lag at the beginning of the year as I start a whole bunch of new ones lol.

Here's where it gets good though...........your starts eventually contribute to your completed if you keep your series on the shorter side. So you start something like Monsters of Verity a two book series and get a fix in for a new one and yet do a book in October and bang in November it's completed.

That said......I crammed 8 completed and 3 up to date into the last month with zero started to make it happen. I'm much better with pressure. :)

Scott wrote: "Here's where it gets good though...........your starts eventually contribute to your completed if you keep your series on the shorter side. So you start something like Monsters of Verity a two book..."

That's so encouraging! I'm looking forward to sneaking in a few trilogies here and there to help abate series boredom. Hopefully I'll be able to offset the Temeraire and Malazan monsters I'm planning to start haha.

I don't think pressure works for me, I think easy goals that I can constantly pat myself on the back for works for me lol.

Part of me wants to be a smartass and get it all done by 12/31.

This is kind of redundant considering all of my updates this week, but I need an official one to copy and paste for my blog.

Niki's September 2017 Progress Update:

Series Finished: 1
Magician's End Raymond E. Feist

Series Brought UTD: 3
Nyxia - Scott Reintgen
A Dragon of a Different Color - Rachel Aaron
Apex - Mercedes Lackey

Series Progressed: 8
Heart's Blood - Jane Yolen
A Sending of Dragons - Jane Yolen
Gods of Risk - James S.A. Corey
Magic Steals - Ilona Andrews
A Crown Imperiled - Raymond E. Feist
Yendi - Steven Brust
The Vital Abyss - James S.A. Corey
Zoe's Tale - John Scalzi

New Series Started: 2
Nyxia - Scott Reintgen
The Shadow of What Was Lost - James Islington

Abandoned: 1*
Dragon's Blood [3/4] - Jane Yolen

YTD Totals:
Finished Series: 9
Up To Date Series: 19
Series Progressed: 40
New Series Started: 18
Abandoned: 5*

*I abandoned a ton of outstanding series, but I only abandoned 1 while actively reading it. This is how I've been measuring it thus far. Next month I'm going to keep track of all the series I let go.

Niki Hawkes wrote: "This is kind of redundant considering all of my updates this week, but I need an official one to copy and paste for my blog.

Niki's September 2017 Progress Update:

Series Finished: 1
[book:Magici..."

Well done, Niki ^_^. Do you have a particular goal you'd like to get your open series under?

Liam wrote: "Niki Hawkes wrote: "This is kind of redundant considering all of my updates this week, but I need an official one to copy and paste for my blog.

Niki's September 2017 Progress Update:

Series Fini..."

Thanks!! Ideal would be under 10 (not including UTD series) but my current goal is to get under 20 by next July. :)

Finished: A Natural History of Dragons [5/5] - Marie Brennan [Short Stories 1/1]

46 Non-UTD Series, baby.

I heard of that series and walked past it a couple of times is it any good??

well done, Niki!

Ahdam wrote: "I heard of that series and walked past it a couple of times is it any good??"

I loved it. I can see how some people would call it "dry" because of the heavy focus on dragon naturalism, but to me that stuff was riveting. The only thing I had issue with was the second part of the first book, everything else I loved! :D Did I mention I loved it? It helped me live vicariously through the character. How else would I be able to study dragons for a living?

Miche wrote: "well done, Niki!"

Thanks!! :D

Oh yeah I almost forgot you loved dragons haha I'm just wondering because I remember you writing a review on the first book and how you weren't a fan on some parts and I don't think I saw you other reviews but it looks like I got another series I need to

Also I really need to read more books with dragons cos it's now a huge selection right now haha

Ahdam wrote: "Oh yeah I almost forgot you loved dragons haha I'm just wondering because I remember you writing a review on the first book and how you weren't a fan on some parts and I don't think I saw you other..."

Obsessively, lol. My issues with the first book didn't carry through the series. Actually, now that I see what she was trying to do, I don't think I'd be as harsh on it as I was. Books 3 - 5 were fantastic. :D

Great month.

Shanks :)

Abandoned: Guilty Pleasures [10/25] - Laurell K. Hamilton

I've been thinking about letting this one go for a while. If I ever do decide to read another one, it wont be with the intent to finish the series. The first 10 were good enough. I actually recommend the first 4 for pure scary-as-fuck vampire stuff without any fluff. Then things got weird.

Down to 45.

A 25 book series would almost perpetually be on the chopping block for me haha. It's honestly the thing that has me debating constantly in my mind about The Dresden Files. Because if everybody is right, I might like them well enough, but enough for a 15+ book commitment? That's more of a tough one haha.

Liam wrote: "A 25 book series would almost perpetually be on the chopping block for me haha. It's honestly the thing that has me debating constantly in my mind about The Dresden Files. Because if everybody is r..."

Haha it's such a hard sell with our current focus. I'm currently still willing to start a few, but if they don't stay above 4 stars I've no compunctions about letting them go first. XD luckily for me, most of the big series I've wanted to start over the years have already been dabbled in. Malazan being a glaring exception. Still, there's nothing like finding a series you love and then realizing you have 10+ books of enjoyment ahead of you.

@Niki: At least you made it through the necromancy storyline, I guess... I tried to give Anita Blake a try a few years ago on audio... it was one of my few 1star books... I really didn't enjoy it really...

From what I understand, tho, book 10 is where Anita starts solving crimes with MOAR SEX...

@Liam: Dresden is an investment... and one I'm no longer sure if it will end in a reasonable amount of time... it's planned as 20 case files series + an Apocalyptic Trilogy to end it all... Books 1-12 are the first story arc... book 14 introduces the endgame bad guys... only 15 of the 20/23 books are out so far... and only 1 book has released in the past 5 years... before that there were 14 books released over 12 years... and the first 2 books don't hook everyone... it gets better for most people at book 3

@Niki again: On long series, they are the easiest for me to cut... I've abandoned 29/50 series with 10+ books... and of the ones I didn't, 1 is finished, 10 I'm up-to-date on all the full-length books, and the rest I'm mostly 1-3 books behind on...

The one long series I've picked up recently, Honor Harrington, I fully expect to abandon at some point... there are 14 books and counting and 5 companion series (a mix of prequels and side stories)... and while I enjoy the characters/story/action right now, apparently infodumps, repetitive plot reminders, character bloat, and politics become a problem as the series progresses, with the books growing in length as a result...

UTD - An Echo Of Things To Come
Finished - Arcade Catastrophe if there is another installment, I'll move it to Abandoned.

Down to 45 non UTD.

I have 2 more I'll probably finish this week.

Great job chopping at your list totals.