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I just finished it (I know… not a lot of reading time lately).
A bit like Return to Monkey Island, my appreciation for the story grew as I progressed and in the end I had to revisit some of my initial reservations. I felt it was a bit unevenly paced at times, especially in the first part where it seemed to merely describe travelling from place A to B, to C then to B again…with inconsistent travel speeds and wind directions compared to the map (something the main series The Last King of Osten Ard also suffers from).
But once I put myself over that peeve, I enjoyed the underlying themes and philosophical questions (a trademark of Tad Williams to include them for those who want to pick up on them without making it too in-your-face and enforcing them upon those who only want to enjoy the pure adventure).
I am not sure if the book is as enjoyable for anyone who isn’t familiar with all the other stories and books set in Osten Ard, but since I am - even though some of them feel like faint memories, perhaps because of the 1000 year gap- I thoroughly enjoyed all the lore, hints and revelations for the attentive reader (and new enigmas!). My partial remembering even helped set the mood to relate to the characters when they are vaguely remembering the past or getting glimpses of the future. I also liked the etymology of places and Zida’ya words.

As for the book as an object, I was sad the cover isn’t done by Michael Whelan anymore - as well as the quality of the binding, dustcover and hardcover seem to be of a cheaper tier than before. Cost savings…

Anyway, Tad is still my favourite writer and I am looking forward to re-reading this novel. (Unlike the Wheel of Time, which will not spin again for me)

Next: Into the Narrowdark

@kaiman Have you read The Burning Man? If not: you definitely should!

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My overall impression was that it is the Lord of the Rings from the perspective of Sam. I’m not sure if it is intentional, or by accident, or just in my imagination, but there are some striking similarities. If the former, it’s a wonderful homage, otherwise I guess there are just so many themes and plots to pick from, so some repetition is probably inevitable.

Lucky you. The German edition doesn’t even have a release date yet. And since I started in German …

Don’t think I have. But looks like I have to :slight_smile:.

Addendum: So it seems a bit hard to come by, at least as a physical object. There is a standalone release in German with both hard- and softcover issues, both currently out of print. It’s around 18€ for the hardcover, used. Interestingly, my favorite bookstore lists it for pre-order at 14€, with an as-of-yet unknown release date, with no info whatsoever on the publisher’s website (just like with Into the Narrowdark). I guess I might just wait for now.

Finished, and all I can say is *wow*. I did not see that coming. The first volume already had some unexpected twists and turns, and this even more so. And while the first took a while to pick up speed at times, this one never really slowed down to begin with.

Now waiting for the next …

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Recently, I came across this list of Cozy and Feel-Good Fantasy and Sci-Fi Books on Goodreads, and as I enjoy those more than the bleak and gory kind I picked up and read a few I did not know yet:

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers was a rather mixed experience. I did not really get warm with the main character, who seemed to be doing good for themselves (the author failed to reveal sex or identity), yet never was truly satisfied with what they had. It’s something I cannot really relate to, so I found their attitude a bit off-putting. I still might follow up with the next volume, as it got somewhat better near the end, but I think it might appeal more to folks who are still looking for happiness in life. Though hard to judge if it will bring much comfort in that case.

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen tricked me. I always thought romance novels were required to depict a shirtless guy and a swooning girl on the cover to warn people off, but apparently that’s not the case. They can advertise it as a fantasy western with a morbid theme all they want, first and foremost it’s romance. The overall premise, setting and story aren’t too bad, but the thing between the characters seems rather contrived and it makes up the majority of the book. Rather cliché-ridden, too.

The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal is a sci-fy murder mystery and doubles as a Cocktail book, as each chapter is named after a drink and provides the recipe. There are plenty of chapters, and plenty drinks mixed and consumed throughout, as well. The story is also not quite what the blurb on the back makes it out to be. From that I had expected the main focus to be on the crime investigation and unmasking of the true culprit, but in retrospect, a technical adept heiress to a large industrial conglomerate isn’t really a super-sleuth, and the way things actually play out certainly make her more believable as a character. That one’s probably the best of the bunch, though it’s not outstanding and the only thing cozy and feel-good about it is probably Gimlet, the dog. (But there’s also Gimlet, the drink, of course!)

So while none of these come as a revelation, at least they were a welcome change from the usual fare, so I thought I’d share my thoughts. But to be honest, the only ones from the list for which I would vouch are The Princess Bride, The Goblin Emperor, and Piranesi. After these, if you’re still not feeling cozy enough, get something from Patrica McKillip (Cygnet, maybe, or Od Magic).

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Read Athos 2643 by Nils Westerboer. One of the very few books I’d give a 5 out of 5. (Though I’m easily impressionable, tomorrow I might already have reasons why it’s a mere 4.5).

At the beginning, it feels a lot like The Name of the Rose in space (and that alone would justify the grade): there’s Rüd, our protagonist, who’s off to a cloister on a remote asteroid, together with his pretty AI assistant, to investigate the death of a monk. The whole story is written from the perspective of the AI, and poses the kind of questions one might expect in that context: common good vs. individual good, free will vs. determinism and, of course, what it takes to be human.

The writing and world-building are excellent: not a lot of exposition, but background and character detail are woven masterfully into the narrative, as are the philosophical bits. Locations are described succinctly, but in vivid detail and evoke a distinctly oppressive and suspenseful feeling. I had the impression that every word carried weight and served a purpose, and the whole thing was just so incredibly well-rounded, and that’s probably what makes it so much better than the sum of its parts.

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Sounds amazing! Name of the Rose is one of my favorite books, but do you happen to know if there is an English translation?

Goodreads has 4 editions listed for Athos 2643, but they are all in German.

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Sadly, it’s only available in German. I did a quick search, and it seems at least the publication rights would be available, so I guess it’s not entirely ruled out that this might change in the future.

I debated with myself whether I should post it here at all, but given how good it is, I thought maybe it helps getting some attention in the wider world. And, of course, a couple people here speak German.

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Finally got my hands on a copy. I think reading it now (after Brothers of the Wind) made me appreciate it more. Though it’s pretty good regardless. I’m even tempted to re-read the original series, to see it in context of all the new material. And to shorten the wait for the German edition of Into the Narrowdark, due out in autumn … not sure if I can stomach the visit to giant-beetle-lair for a 3rd time, though :slight_smile:.

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Read Larry Niven’s Ringworld (better late than never, I guess). While I can’t fully recommend the edition I picked, a (presumably) new German translation from Mantikore, I really liked the book as such. I imagine the Sci-Fi bits might have been even more awe-inspiring 50 years ago, but then there’s the journey and adventure part, and the more philosophical aspects, too. Though the biggest question I have right now is whether the Kilrathi are inspired by the Kzinti (how could they not be!?). And I really should re-read Terry Pratchett’s Strata, too. I’d never given much thought to when that was released in relation to the Discworld novels, and never thought it would parody any specific work of literature.

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To @Sushi and whomever else it may concern: Humble Store has a Tad Williams book bundle featuring 21 ebooks for less than the price of a single paper book.

I’ll be skipping the offer, as I’d rather invest in more shelf space than into an ebook reader, but maybe it’s useful to have as a backup for the physical books or to complete your collection (in case it needs completing).

I really loved the Shadowmarch series, and the Osten Aard stuff isn’t too shabby either, especially the standalone novels, so it feels like this is an excellent deal. There must be a hook somewhere …

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I have all of them in print version (and a couple on eReader too), but I was tempted.
The hook is you’ll be hooked for quite some time to finish them all. (And the last part The Navigator’s Children is not included)

Current status: a bit more than halfway through Into the Narrowdark

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Started reading that today, a bit earlier than anticipated. Not sure what’s going on, but not only did the German translation release ahead of schedule, but both parts (of course they did not want or manage to fit 1000 pages into a single volume) came out at the same time.

Update 2023-09-28: a bit more than halfway through as well. One impression I cannot shake off is that this book is written to be adapted for TV. Plenty of action and over the top cinematic scenes. Maybe it’s unintentional, and just a result of Williams’ effort to squeeze this trilogy into no more than 4 books. But while I think the first volume could have shed a 100 to 200 pages without losing much of value, this one seems to have hardly a single word to spare. Which I prefer, TBH, but it does feel a bit inconsistent with what came before. The second volume fell somewhat in between the two extremes, and I hope the grand finale will as well.

Update 2023-10-06: finished. The second half slowed down a bit with the action, and had one or two (somewhat) unexpected twists. It also had one of those stereotypical villains that would rather talk the hero to death, a scene so hilarious it wasn’t funny any more and then more superhero-level action. Now I’m eagerly awaiting the, hopefully, epic conclusion.

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Read Shades of Grey and Red Side Story by Jasper Fforde. The first one is quite old, but seems they were released in German just now. Curiously, the translation was done by different people, and Shades of Grey turned out way better from a language point of view.

In addition to the inferior style (hopefully only present in the translation), Red Side Story starts by rehashing a lot of what transpired before, which might make sense given it came out 16 years after the first book, but feels a bit jarring when reading them back to back. But it did get quite exciting after the initial chapters and that made up for the change in tone and blatant exposition. Now I hope the next one (because of course it is a trilogy) does not take another 16 years to write.

Like seemingly all of Fforde’s works (which I don’t know, only judging by the Wikipedia page), it’s about a future, dystopian society, and while it starts out mostly harmless and a bit silly, it doesn’t take long before the stakes are raised. Probably the most notable books I’ve picked up over the past 6 months.

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Quiet here, so I’ll give a bit of an update on the noteworthy stuff I read. I’ll try to keep it short.

Volume 3 of Ada Palmer’s Terra Ignota series. This one was like 90% dialogue and 10% action, yet it was more gripping than most books with the opposite ratio. Now awaiting the conclusion.

The remaining volumes of Max Gladstone’s Craft Sequence. Four Roads Cross was at least as good as Two Serpents Rise, and returned to the characters and location of Three Parts Dead. Ruin of Angels was better, though suffered a bit from a slow start. Has returning characters from Full Fathom Five, but is set in a new location (a bit harder to place in terms of real-world equivalent, but if I had to guess I’d say North Africa). It’s a wild mix of investment banking and magic, part heist, part prison break. And more. Quite the spectacle!

The Narrow Road Between Desires by Patrick Rothfuss. If the conclusion to his Kingkiller Chronicle is only half as good, it will still have been worth the wait!

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson. I normally don’t like Sanderson’s style (too technical, taking the magic out of the magic), but here he does an homage to The Princess Bride, and with great success, methinks. The twist was a bit foreseeable. Then again, it was also masterfully hinted at much, much earlier, which I completely failed to realize. Well played!

The first 2 1/2 volumes of The Bird That Drinks Tears by Lee Yeong-Do. That series was published in Korea 20 years ago and is only now getting a German translation, with the 4th and final book due out in December. It’s … different. A bit of a mix between adventurous journey and political intrigue, with a generous dose of, what I would call, typical Korean humor: more slapstick and situational comedy than characters cracking jokes. Quality of the writing is a bit all over the place, but at it’s best it’s brilliant and hilarious.

And finally, for something completely different: What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama. Interconnected stories of different people that have their lives upended, and by some good fortune, and perhaps a bit of their own initiative, come to grips with the new situation. Uplifting and inspiring.

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