Current Reads : Magicians in the 1800's and Mages meet Dragons
Weekly Stacks Issue #008 - This week in Sagas Revealed we find magicians and magic, but not all magic tales feel the same.
Happy mid-week friends!
We’re finally out of the cold snap that has gripped Northern Minnesota for the last week or two, and not a moment too soon as I think everyone here was nearing their breaking point. Not that we aren’t used to extremely cold temps here in the northland, however when it stays so cold for so long it begins to wear on people. For me it makes me just want to hide away and not talk to anybody.
But life goes on - thank God for books to explore! Since I didn’t publish a weekly stacks issue last week due to finally putting out my Top 10 reads of 2023 list instead, we have some catching up to do! If you missed that article, you can find it linked just below. How about we jump into the worlds I’ve been exploring?!
Better late than never! Top 10 of 2023!
Never say never! Who cares if we’re over halfway through January already, I just finally got around to taking a solid look at my reads this year and deciding what I felt were the most enjoyable of the worlds that I had the good fortune to explore in 2023!
Are you an avid reader that loves talking about the books you’re reading, fantasy and sci-fi realms unfolding between the pages, and wish you had MORE people to geek out with?
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LOOKING BACK - THE BOOKS I’VE FINISHED
I’m not going to spend too much time on the books I’ve finished since we spoke. Mostly because I’ll have full reviews of them all up soon. They are actually written already but, well this is a little embarrassing, I’m stalling on posting them as I decide if I want to keep things in written form only with my reviews, or if I want to take everything starting in 2024 here and turn it into a new OWTT Podcast that can live there like a living and evolving library of worlds I’ve explored. Any thoughts?
As of last issue I was working on Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro and Silver Spines (Dragonblood Assassin #3) by Jaime Castle & Andy Peloquin. Both books were finished, both were enjoyable though I had more fun with Silver Spines than with Klara.
After Klara and the Sun, which was my physical book I was reading, I began work on the massive brick of a book called Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke. We’ll talk more about that one in the currently reading section as I’m STILL working on it.
In the meantime I ripped through two very different science fiction titles, which has been an interesting twist for me as I kick off the year. Without realizing it or meaning for it to happen, I’ve read more sci-fi than fantasy or any other genre so far. Maybe it’s a new trend or phase in my reading this year as I tend to skew more to fantasy vs sci-fi.
The first of the two sci-fi books was Morning Star (Red Rising Saga #3) by Pierce Brown. This is pure emotional action style sci-fi with all the focus being put on the rebellion happening in the civilization. It’s a much more plot-twisty, bloody, Star Wars without Jedi magic. Even though it’s technically book 3 of what is rumored to now be 7 total books in the series, it was originally called a trilogy and this was the final book of said trilogy, so it makes for a nice place to end the series for now.
The second of the two sci-fi books was The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth’s Past #1) by Cixin Liu. For all the fast paced, easy action and plot twisty fun of the Red Rising Series, Three-Body Problem is the polar opposite. Sure it gets very tense, but this is HARD science fiction, with a heavy emphasis on the SCIENCE. This too is massive, world ending stakes but it is more concerned with humanity’s role in the entire Universe mixed with a super scientific “First Contact” element. While the main story is enjoyable, the book as a whole left me with mixed feelings - again, you can see more in the full review which will be out soon one way or the other!
CURRENT READS
Which brings us to my current reads. I think after so much sci-fi I needed a little fantasy so I’m currently enjoying a physical fantasy book and an audiobook fantasy title.
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
This book is massive - coming in at 1006 pages with the mass market paperback copy I own. I’m hoping to finish it before the end of the month, but we’ll see. I have around 400(ish) pages left which should be doable… but this is a Sloooooow read. Not in a bad way as it’s beautifully written. But Clarke does like to meander and it feels like the book equivalent of binge watching a 6 season run of a show with very little action. Set in the 1800’s we have two magicians, Mr. Norrell who is attempting to bring English Magic back to its respected position while also seemingly ONLY wanting to collect all the books of magic for himself and be the ONLY actual practicing magician and Jonathan Strange who is more eager to practice and is Norrell’s pupil, until he’s not. Strange gets to perform all sorts of magic publicly because he gets summoned to serve in the war against Napoleon. Yes, that Napoleon. Meanwhile mysterious and nefarious things seem to be happen across London that may have been set in motion by Mr. Norrell, who seems oblivious to the danger growing all around him. I really enjoy this one so far, but readily admit that it does feel a bit excessively long at times. Every time it feels to be dragging though, Clarke gives us a blast of interesting twists and “action” to revive our interest. At just over 600 pages in, I guess I can say I’m in it till the end!
The Written (Emaneska #1) by Ben Galley
Man have I enjoyed the last few adventures I’ve taken into indie/self published fantasy worlds. Dragonblood Assassin totally sucked me in and I can’t wait for the fourth and final book to hit Audible and this series, Emaneska, has been a fantasy delight so far. It literally has a little bit of everything, from cool sword battles and a battle mage burning the shit out of enemies, dragons, mystery, ancient dark magic threatening to rise up in power, oh and at least one vampire and one werewolf. It sounds absolutely crazy but it’s so good so far! Plus the narrator on Audible is fantastic, I think he’s Irish or Scottish, but that accent is so much fun to listen to and really brings the story to life. Definitely take a chance on that Indie/Self Published fantasy and sci-fi world - there is some great stuff to be found! Oh yeah, also this is a four book series that is all FREE on Audible Plus, so yay for free books!
“Beware the monster behind the door, watch out for the spiders all over the floor.
Be brave like your father, proud warrior and all, Something is gnawing at bones in the hall.
Maybe you’ll run, or maybe you’ll fight, Maybe sleep soundly all through the night. Never you mind, now close your eyes, Pray you sleep well, not be food for the flies.”
― Ben Galley, The Written
I’m looking forward to seeing where this massive journey with Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is going to take me. As I mentioned I’m hoping to finish it by the end of the month, but who knows - it may be by the end of this week even, we’ll see! Oddly, since starting The Written, Strange & Norrell feel like they are content simmering on the back burner - an enjoyable slow paced read to fill the spaces between the faster paced Emaneska series!
Happy reading friends,
Dave
What are you currently reading, watching, playing, or listening to that is feeding your fantasy and sci-fi cravings AND what are your top TBR/TBW( To Be Read / To Be Watched ) options that you hope to get to in the next week?
