#they are 1000+ page behemoths

[veganpeachpie]

Every fantasy lover needs to go out there now and find a copy of The Way of Kings, book 1 of The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson.

The world is so deeply fleshed out and I am in love with the magic system. Also Shallan is my child and I would die for her.

[constellationclarke]

Getting my required reading done for Thursday !!

[lesbienneanarchiste]

Been reading this fic so long that I didn't finish a single book last month but I realized I was at 90% and was like oh sick maybe I'll sit and finish it while dinner cooks and then I looked at the time remaining and

Buddy... Whaddya mean 2 hrs left in book.... Whaddya mean

[venusmage]

Ask time! What era/type of art would you say you draw the most inspiration from?

oh god this is really hard. Mostly because my inspirations are all over the place! One is 2010's webcomics! A very broad category, I know, but I was really into reading comics when I was in highschool, and a lot of amazing ones were coming out around that time. The Meek (Der-shing Helmer), HINABN (Tess Stone), Lackadaisy (Tracy Butler), and anything by Evan Dahm (the artist behind Riceboy/Vattu/etc). I somehow avoided Homestuck, but Prequel Adventure (Kazerad) rewired my little Oblivion-Obsessed brain.

Speaking of Oblivion - the concept art for all three mainline games in the Elder Scrolls series did SO much for my imagination. Adam Adamowicz is one of my all time favorite artists, and I think his work on Oblivion was overlooked because of his (also stellar) work in Skyrim. There's an entire flickr album of his concept art for TES IV, though, and I recommend it! What that man could do with art markers bewilders me even now. I think this might be the single most impactful art influence I have.

The close runner-up would be the aforementioned Evan Dahm's work. I think he's still, years later, criminally underrated in terms of public appreciation and discussion. For me, Rice Boy blew open so many doors regarding art style, presentation, and character design. Vattu then stunned with just how much of an epic it was and it's fantastic titular main character. Now 3rd Voice is perhaps his most technically beautiful comic yet, and seems to meld the weirdness of Rice Boy with Vattu's super gripping character arcs and worldbuilding.

The way his comics are paced (both in story and the literal pacing of how he organizes his panels/the art in them) is my favorite...ever. Even though they're simple, he just gets the framing down so perfectly it's crazy. The fact he can make such alien characters so human in how they act and how we view them astounds me. I really do - no hyperbole or empty flattery intended - think he's a modern day comics master and I need more people to discuss his body of work.

Also all of his comics are FREE to read on his website rice-boy[dot]com! They're also on webtoon if you're already dedicated to that platform, and the blog @riceboycomic was basically a republishing of Rice Boy with added artist commentary. If you're not ready to dive into the behemoth that is Vattu yet (its over 1000 pages, though it's so worth it), 3rd Voice is his newest work and you can catch up to the current page (288) within an hour. Rice Boy is also pretty short, under 500 pages. Please do yourself a favor and get lost in one of the quiet, uncanny, heartfelt worlds he's created (and then talk to me about it pleaaaseee).

[a-ramblinrose]

Did my brain decide that it only wanted to read a 1000+ page classic novel despite not being able to concentrate on anything longer than a short story for the last two months?

Absolutely!

And worse, I had to buy the behemoth because of course my brain couldn't pick one of the large classics from my gigantic TBR collection. Nope, special order only for my delightful self!

The life a chaotic bookworm my dears!

[etoiline]

9 Fandom Peeps to Get to Know Better

Tagged by @voidcat-senket

3 Ships I Like: surprising no one: spyscrapper (Bode/Cal); Aloy/Kotallo (but am perfectly happy with Aloy/Seyka too); Finn/Poe/Rey

First Ship Ever: I drew fanart for the Phantom of the Opera musical before I knew what fanart was, but I don't think I really shipped Erik/Christine at the time. I also drew art of the various Disney Renaissance princesses and their princes around the same time (late 80s to early 90s); think lots of Belle/Beast and Jasmine/Aladdin. The first ship I wrote fanfic for (a fixit, of course) was for Max/Liz from the 1999 Roswell tv show. Then I just...neglected to write about any characters until I found the spyscrapper community, almost exactly twenty years after writing that Roswell fic.

Last Song You Heard: "Clarity" by John Mayer, as spun by my Random Writing Music playlist on Spotify.

Favorite Childhood Book: Flute Song Magic by Amanda Shettle gave me a different perspective on life. Self-Portrait with Wings by Susan Green is wish fulfillment with all its attendant problems. I also got a hold of Robin Hobbs' Assassin's Apprentice much earlier in life than I probably should have, and thinking back on it make me realize it might have shaped how I turned out. The Forever King by Molly Cochran and Warren Murphy gave me a lifelong love of Authuriana.

Currently Reading: Just finished The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sarah Raasch (alas for books coming off hold at the library after their season has passed), very good, quite spicy and not just fluffy! Now trying to make a little more headway in my Stormlight Archive reread before book 2 expires from the library in a few days (can't renew it because it's on hold for others; will have to read it the old fashioned way with my hardcover copy and only read at home because I'm not schlepping the 1000+ page behemoth to work, until the ebook becomes available again)

Currently Watching: What If, sorta. We don't tend to watch a whole lot of tv so it's taking a long time to get through the final season. I broke down and bought myself the first two seasons of AMC's Interview With the Vampire, because I missed the last two episodes of S2 when they aired and I wasn't going to buy another streaming service just for those. Based on the fanart that's going around I feel like I should watch Arcane but the sobbing emojis I've seen make me worry.

Currently Consuming: leftovers.

Currently Craving: Detroit style pizza.

[merpshire]

Well…. It’s time. Time to read The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson.

I’m 438 pages into this behemoth and Goodreads puts me at 43% through. Which checks out since it’s page count is just above 1000!! I’m loving it so far! It’s wild how so much and yet so little has been packed into 438. I’ve read more of this than other entire books and like…. Nothing major plot wise has happened! I’m so excited to continue taking the time to really deep dive into the characters.

So far, Kaladin is my favorite to read about. A classic kind of fantasy hero! Dalinar and Shallan are both interesting but we haven’t gotten as much about them by this point and their stories are slower. I can see myself liking Dalinar the most by the end of book 1 tho, and that’s who my wife predicts will be my favorite.

[haveyoureadthisscifibook2]

about and FAQ

[plain text: about and FAQ]

who are you? do you have any association with the mod of the previous blogs?

just a guy who loves to read sci-fi and fantasy! I have no association with the previous blog's runner, other than having followed both poll blogs from when they started, but I loved the blogs and the format in which they were run so much that I volunteered to step up and carry on the torch, so to speak.

what happened to the old blogs?

see these posts [post 1; post 2] from the owner of the old blogs, which are no longer active.

i submitted to the old blog, but it got archived before my submission was ever posted! should I submit again to you?

no fear - the old blog's owner has compiled all submissions into a document for me so that I can pick up where they left off and work through the backlog!

are you going to change anything about the poll format/the way that the blog is run?

highly unlikely, other than perhaps some behind the scenes changes to how information is gathered and posts are queued. I am also starting off with submissions closed and a less frequent queue as I figure out my pace and get my bearings, but I hope to ramp it up to at least 4 posts/day (what the old blogs were running on) eventually.

FAQ carried over from the old blog:

[plain text: FAQ carried over from the old blog:]

a note re series: I am more than happy to queue up an entire series on request! if this is what you want, please indicate that explicitly in your submission, especially in cases where the first book in a series and the series as a whole have the same title. otherwise I need to ask for clarification, and it slows down the process of getting your submissions queued up.

where do I submit books?

submissions are currently open!

[plain text: submissions are currently open!]

here. before you submit books, though, please check the list of books that have already been posted or queued. (note: if you’re using the mobile app on an Android phone, you may have to copy the link into your browser in order to access it.) *yes, this link leads to a page on the old blog. I will add a page like it to this blog closer to when I'm ready to start posting polls! for now, you can see what has already been posted.

when submitting multiple books, please submit all of them in a single ask so it’s easier for me to keep track of, especially if you’re submitting them anonymously. also, please include the author’s name!

what counts as having “read” a book?

did you finish the book? then you’ve read it. if you did not finish the book, you have not read it.

do audiobooks / having a book read to you count as having “read” a book?

do you think you’ve “read” the book? then you’ve read it. I’m not here to police your experiences or your relationships with physical books / ebooks / audiobooks / whatever.

does [graphic novel / manga / manhua] count as a “book”?

for the purposes of this poll, a book is a prose narrative, so graphic novels and other visual media with text do not count as “books”.

does [“novella” / “novelette” / short story] count as a “book’?

if a short story was originally published in a single issue of a periodical, in a multi-author anthology, or as part of a single-author collection, I will most likely not accept it unless it has subsequently been published as a standalone volume of more than ~75 pages. if you submit a text where this applies and you think it should be accepted anyway, please elaborate on why with your submission.

however: if a short story was originally published in the form of a standalone volume (i.e., not as part of a collection of texts), then yes, under normal circumstances that counts! I don’t care if it was a 10-page pamphlet or a 1000-page behemoth: if it was first published on its own, including as an ebook, it’s a book.

you can see my more detailed guidelines for short fiction here.

the one exception is things like (e.g.) The Fellowship of the Ring, which is explicitly the first volume of a single, larger book — in a case like this you would submit The Lord of the Rings, rather than its component volumes.

I encourage you to submit short fiction to @have-you-read-this-short-fiction even if it’s not eligible here!

does [short story collection] count as a “book”?

for the purposes of this poll, no, unless the stories are linked into some kind of overarching whole. simply sharing a common setting does not qualify (so Yoon Ha Lee’s Hexarchate Stories would not count as a “book”).

what about [series] as a whole?

no. this blog is asking about single books. feel free to submit multiple books in a series if you’re so inclined, though!

what counts as “sci-fi”?

if you think something should count as sci-fi, feel free to submit it. I haven’t read every book, and I have a flexible definition of the genre. there are some limits to my flexibility, but as long as it is set in the future, has some kind of futuristic technology, is set an an alternate timeline, or includes other non-realist phenomena that are explained (pseudo)scientifically, I’ll probably consider it sci-fi.

I’m a bit more ambivalent about older texts — I tend to think that something like Lucian’s True History (for example) can’t really be meaningfully said to be science fiction, for all that it involves space travel. once we start getting into early modern philosophical novels like More’s Utopia we’re on somewhat firmer ground, but really only in the nineteenth century do we start getting things I would unequivocally consider to be science fiction.

note that I am definitely willing to include works of science fantasy like Tamsyn Muir’s The Locked Tomb books or Piers Anthony’s Incarnations of Immortality, as long as there’s clearly sci-fi stuff going on along with the magic.

what about fantasy?

there’s a blog for that. :-)

does it have to be in English?

no! I read a number of languages and would be more than happy to include books in any language. the demographics of tumblr mean that you’re probably unlikely to get an overall “yes” result for something not in English unless it has a very popular English translation, but I’m happy to post the poll anyway — and maybe get some book recommendations in the languages I read. :-)

you can see links to all the language tags on this blog here.

why don’t you include blurbs for the books in these polls?

there are both practical and ideological reasons for this. tl;dr, it’s a lot of work, presents logistical problems for books not originally published in English, and there are books and authors that I categorically don’t want to promote beyond showing people the cover.

————————

check the #faq tag [including the old blog's #faq tag here] for additional questions and answers.

previous blog here, if you would like to see polls from before october 2024: @haveyoureadthisscifibook

[toddsfall]

For the books ask meme: 3, 4, 10, 11, 12, 13?

Hi Sarah 👋

What were your top five books of the year?

These books have stuck with me the most

1. I'm glad my mom died (this book has haunted me ever since reading it)

2. Pachinko

3. Our share of night

4. Maame

5. The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?

Aside from the abovementioned favorites of the years (which were all authors I hadn't read anything of), I re-discovered Naoise Dolan. I read Exciting Times and absolutely hated it (anyone want my copy?) but then read the Happy Couple. And something about that book just really endeared me to her writing.

What was your favorite new release of the year?

I don't pay much attention to what year the work I'm reading so I had to really go back and look. I really liked 'Hello beautiful', but it also made me really sad.

What was your favorite book that has been out for a while, but you just now read?

I recently read/listened to a bunch of Poe short stories after watching the Fall of the House of Usher and I loved it. Was exactly the atmosphere I was looking for at the time.

Any books that disappointed you?

Can't say this is the author's fault but I tried my hand at YA fantasy (Cassandra Clare) again. And well, I've just outgrown it. So it's more the loss of youth I'm disappointed in I guess (kidding)

What were your least favorite books of the year? The Idiot by Elif Batuman was def my least favorite. It was so boring, I struggled through those 400ish pages like it was a 1000+ page behemoth. God I'm bored just thinking about it.

Thanks for asking 😘

[bookpdf]

also speaking of books. one of the ones i'm reading rn is a 1000+ page behemoth and the author spells "nonetheless" as "none the less", and i keep wondering how much shorter the page count would be if it was corrected

[devilsurvivor-2-recordbreaker]

I'm gonna be honest Harry Potter isn't even good as a magic wizard series. It's like the james cameron Avatar of magic like if your white and racist this is the most crazy shit you've ever seen. But like it's the most bare minimum whimsy and magic it's just boring honestly and of course incredibly racist and horrible in so many ways. I'll never get over how of all the things in those books there are as a profession Harry wants to be racist wizard cop but a GOOD racist wizard cop cause he's the protaginist and because he's the one who's going to kill the nazis he's will definitly make good choices to change the system for the better even though he's totally complacent with it in so many other ways. Jkr really just wrote he political ideology into a vaguely themed children's book and it did gang Busters (at least in America) because children are started of imagination by the system and so a book series like this is polluted water in a desert

Authors note I read the books in like middle school before i knew JKR was a piece of shit. Those books are honestly just okay I have no idea why people obsese over this series it's honestly not even very interesting in so many ways and I dropped after book 5 cause Rowling stopped paying her editor and released like a 1000 page behemoth of total stale air. Like realizing a book that big for no reason should be illegal.

[bnfbc]

Huey Long - by T. Harry Williams - May 2023 - selected by Gabe

Andy: A-

Gabe: "I loved learning about Huey, as I knew nothing about him before this book. It was incredibly detailed, and I felt like it did a good job capturing his personality. What was missing for me, though, was an overarching retrospective analysis of him, his actions, and his policies/beliefs. The ending - where I expected to find that - was incredibly disappointing, in that the book rapidly ended with his death. I was left wanting more, which I'm not sure is a sign that overall this was a good book or not." B

Jachles: B+

Paul: "This was our first foray into the world of extremely thick, old-school biographies NOT written by Robert Caro. While T. Harry certainly doesn't have the story-telling chops and flair for dramatic that make Caro's 1000-pagers so zesty, there's still a lot to like here. First of all, Huey is a fascinating figure. T. Harry opts for a pretty straightforward narrative approach, but there are rich thematic elements to unpack in Huey's life, and it made for a great discussion. The writing style felt old-fashioned and dry, but luckily there were enough outrageous moments like the iconic Long Island Urinal Incident to provide us some zing. Lastly, reading a behemoth of a book like this always results in a sense of accomplishment, and while it didn't end well for Huey (spoiler alert - he dies!), reaching the final pages of this book gave me a feeling of satisfaction I haven't felt since the Caro days." A-

Tommy: B

GPA: 3.33

[whereistheonepiece]

My view on book length, based on my current reading experience in life:

200 pages: A morsel.

300-400 pages: A snack.

500 pages: A meal.

600 pages: Girthy. (No more food analogy.)

700-800 pages: Chonkster.

900 pages: Behemoth.

1000+ pages: Leviathan.

That being said, I will try any page length if I find the book intriguing enough/it's on my TBR.

[bicycleboyblog]

Webcomic Recc Week 2

☆.:*[ Click here to read GHOST JUNK SICKNESS! ]*:.☆

This beautiful piece is a rework of one of the first GJS illustrations!

It’s hiatus: Week 2, and time to tell you about another gorgeous webcomic. This one’s called Ghost Junk Sickness. While the Ghost is a fashionable shapeshifting menace featured heavily in this epic tale, there doesn’t appear to be any Junk Sickness. Unless... here's looking at you, Boggmouth!

Created by Studio CARTRIDGE, a team of sisters named Krispy & Space, who are based out of Ontario, Canada -this story follows a pair of interstellar bounty hunters with a troublesome relationship, while the spectre of the “Ghost” haunts them in the background. They, like many unfortunates before them, are drawn to the hefty bounty, as the elusive Ghost is worth a whopping 600,000 triens! Life changing cash for Trigger & Vahn.

Trigger is, as his name suggests, a grumbly, gun-toting hardass, and he travels across the universe in search of sweet, sweet cash with his soft-spoken friend, Vahn Gavotte. Vahn is a more upbeat, feminine sort who is trying desperately to look on the bright side. They have some crazy markings nobody understands, and their tiny frame can easily brace a colossal energy gun that they use to destroy their foes. Curious, indeed.

Mecha battles, planet apocalypses, kidnappings, big ol’ lizards, a corrupt interstellar military, leg-lobbings, murder, and more– Ghost Junk Sickness will throw you through a tonal loop, and it's so much fun. Some parts of it feel like a “monster of the week” type of format, where each chapter is a self-contained episode. This storytelling style graciously shows us a window into all aspects of CARTRIDGE's universe, peering into the lives of friend and foe, bitter and sweet. Every member of the huge cast gets their time to shine.

GJS is a black and white behemoth, spanning 7 years of updates. It has 18 chapters and 1000+ pages that will keep you satisfied for weeks of binge time. At least, that’s how long it took me to read it, and I was devouring the damn thing. The artwork is absolutely gorgeous, confident, and intensely emotional.

Read it for Fiachra. She is mean and big and strong and powerful and oh dear I may be biased.

If you like Hunter X Hunter’s massive, sprawling universe, Vash the Stampede’s mysterious superpowers from Trigun, and all the space-faring adventure of Cowboy Bebop, you’ll love Ghost Junk Sickness.

Krispy also helped put together the wonderful Webcomic Resources blog, which, as the name suggests, is invaluable if you are a comic creator. It is full of useful information I reference often. She is also part of the team for the Webcomic-centric podcast SCREEN TONES.

Relevant Links:

Ghost Junk Sickness Webcomic Site

Studio CARTRIDGE @ Patreon

Krispy @ Twitter

Space @ Twitter

Krispy's Portfolio Blog

SCREEN TONES: A podcast about all things webcomic!

Webcomic Resources Tumblr Blog

[collectorscorner]

CC Blogger - New Arrivals @ Collectors Corner : Wednesday 8/4/21

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ABLAZE Maria Llovet’s Porcelain #1 (Cover A Maria Llovet), $3.99 Maria Llovet’s Porcelain #1 (Cover B Caspar Wijngaard), $3.99 Maria Llovet’s Porcelain #1 (Cover C Yishan Li), $3.99 Maria Llovet’s Porcelain #1 (Cover D Tyler Boss), $3.99 Maria Llovet’s Porcelain #1 (Cover E Sabine Rich), $3.99 Maria Llovet’s Porcelain #1 (Cover F Blank Variant), AR

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COMIC SHOP NEWS Comic Shop News #1772, AR Comic Shop News FCBD 2021 Special, AR

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HEAVY METAL MAGAZINE Amber Blake Operation Dragonfly #1 (One Shot), $7.99 Chasing The Dragon #5 (Of 5)(Cover A Menton3), $3.99 Chasing The Dragon #5 (Of 5)(Cover B Martin Coccolo), AR

IDW PUBLISHING Star Trek Debt Of Honor Classic Edition GN, $9.99 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Best Of Casey Jones #1 (Cover A James Biggie), $5.99 Transformers #33 (Cover A Ed Pierre), $3.99 Transformers #33 (Cover B Lane Lloyd), $3.99 Transformers #33 (Cover C Alex Milne), AR Transformers King Grimlock #1 (Of 5)(Cover A Cary Nord), $4.99 Transformers King Grimlock #1 (Of 5)(Cover B Agustin Padilla), $4.99 Transformers King Grimlock #1 (Of 5)(Cover C Mateus Santolouco), AR

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Gomez), AR Sinister War #2 (Of 4)(Cover D Marcelo Ferreira), AR Sinister War #2 (Of 4)(Cover E David Baldeon Handbook Variant), AR Sinister War #2 (Of 4)(Cover F Jeffrey Veregge), AR Spirits Of Vengeance Spirit Rider #1 (Cover A Takashi Okazaki), $4.99 Spirits Of Vengeance Spirit Rider #1 (Cover B Bill Sienkiewicz), AR Spirits Of Vengeance Spirit Rider #1 (Cover C Javier Rodriguez), AR Star Wars Bounty Hunters #15 (Cover A Giuseppe Camuncoli), $3.99 Star Wars Bounty Hunters #15 (Cover B David Nakayama Wanted Poster Variant), AR Star Wars Bounty Hunters #15 (Cover C Chris Sprouse Lucasfilm 50th Anniversary Variant), AR Star Wars Legends Epic Collection The Original Marvel Years Volume 5 TP, $39.99 Star Wars War Of The Bounty Hunters 4-LOM And Zuckuss #1 (Cover A Mahmud A. 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ONI PRESS Invader Zim Quarterly Collection Volume 1 Oodles Of Doom TP, $19.99 Invader Zim The Dookie Loop Horror #1 (One Shot)(Cover A Aaron Alexovich), $4.99 Invader Zim The Dookie Loop Horror #1 (One Shot)(Cover B Cole Ott), $4.99 Invader Zim The Dookie Loop Horror #1 (One Shot)(Cover C Jhonen Vasquez), $4.99

SCOUT COMICS Locust #1 (Of 8)(2nd Printing Alex Nieto Cover), $3.99 We Don’t Kill Spiders #1 (Of 3), $3.99

TITAN COMICS Blade Runner 2029 #6 (Cover A Gene Ha), $3.99 Blade Runner 2029 #6 (Cover B Syd Mead), $3.99 Blade Runner 2029 #6 (Cover C Julian Lopez), $3.99 Horizon Zero Dawn Liberation #1 (Cover A Peach Momoko), $3.99 Horizon Zero Dawn Liberation #1 (Cover B Game Art Variant), $3.99 Horizon Zero Dawn Liberation #1 (Cover C Harvey Tolibao), $3.99 Horizon Zero Dawn Liberation #1 (Cover D Ann Maulina), $3.99 Horizon Zero Dawn Liberation #1 (Cover E Adrian Wilkins), $3.99 Horizon Zero Dawn Liberation #1 (Cover F Blank Variant), $3.99 Horizon Zero Dawn Liberation #1 (Cover G Peach Momoko Virgin Sketch Variant), $3.99 Michael Moorcock Library Elric Stormbringer HC, $24.99

TOKYOPOP Laughing Under The Clouds Volume 3 GN, $12.99

UDON ENTERTAINMENT Daigo The Beast Umehara Fighting Gamers Volume 2 GN, $19.99

VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT Livewire Deluxe Edition HC, $49.99

VAULT COMICS Engineward #11 (Cover A Joe Eisma), $3.99 Engineward #11 (Cover B Jen Hickman), $3.99 Heavy #7 (Cover A Eryk Donovan), $3.99 Heavy #7 (Cover B Tim Daniel), $3.99

VIZ MEDIA Black Clover Volume 26 GN, $9.99 Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba Volume 23 GN, $9.99 JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 5 Golden Wind Volume 1 HC, $19.99 Jujutsu Kaisen Volume 11 GN, $9.99 Kaguya-sama Love Is War Volume 20 GN, $9.99 Kaze Hikaru Volume 29 GN, $9.99 King’s Beast Volume 3 GN, $9.99 Promised Neverland Volume 20 GN, $9.99 Snow White With The Red Hair Volume 14 GN, $9.99 We Never Learn Volume 17 GN, $9.99 Yona Of The Dawn Volume 31 GN, $9.99

ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT Van Helsing Vs Dracula’s Daughter TP, $19.99 Van Helsing Vs The Invisible Woman One Shot (Cover A Igor Vitorino), $5.99 Van Helsing Vs The Invisible Woman One Shot (Cover B Martin Coccolo), $5.99 Van Helsing Vs The Invisible Woman One Shot (Cover C Ivan Tao), $5.99 Van Helsing Vs The League of Monsters TP, $19.99

GAMES

NECA/WIZKIDS Dungeons And Dragons Icons Of The Realms Summoning Creatures Set 1, AR Dungeons And Dragons Icons Of The Realms Summoning Creatures Set 2, AR Dungeons And Dragons Nolzur’s Marvelous Mini Adult White Dragon, AR Dungeons And Dragons Nolzur’s Marvelous Mini Air Genasi Female, AR Dungeons And Dragons Nolzur’s Marvelous Mini Allip And Deathlock, AR Dungeons And Dragons Nolzur’s Marvelous Mini Annis Hageladrin, AR Dungeons And Dragons Nolzur’s Marvelous Mini Autumn Eladrin And Summer Eladrin, AR Dungeons And Dragons Nolzur’s Marvelous Mini Boneclaw, AR Dungeons And Dragons Nolzur’s Marvelous Mini Bugbear Barbarian Male And Bugbear, AR Dungeons And Dragons Nolzur’s Marvelous Mini Crawling Claws, AR Dungeons And Dragons Nolzur’s Marvelous Mini Death Tyrant, AR Dungeons And Dragons Nolzur’s Marvelous Mini Dragonborn Fighter Female, AR Dungeons And Dragons Nolzur’s Marvelous Mini Dragonborn Fighter Male, AR Dungeons And Dragons Nolzur’s Marvelous Mini Gnoll Witherlings, AR Dungeons And Dragons Nolzur’s Marvelous Mini Half-Orc Paladin Male, AR Dungeons And Dragons Nolzur’s Marvelous Mini Hobgoblin Fighter Male And Hobgobli, AR Dungeons And Dragons Nolzur’s Marvelous Mini Human Bard Male, AR Dungeons And Dragons Nolzur’s Marvelous Mini Lizardfolk Barbarian And Lizardfolk, AR Dungeons And Dragons Nolzur’s Marvelous Mini Male Goblin Rogue And Female Goblin, AR Dungeons And Dragons Nolzur’s Marvelous Mini Nightwalker, AR Dungeons And Dragons Nolzur’s Marvelous Mini Planetar, AR Dungeons And Dragons Nolzur’s Marvelous Mini Stone Defender And Oaken Bolter, AR Dungeons And Dragons Nolzur’s Marvelous Mini Tiefling Sorcerer Female, AR Dungeons And Dragons Nolzur’s Marvelous Mini Warforged Titan, AR Dungeons And Dragons Nolzur’s Marvelous Mini Winter Eladrin And Spring Eladrin, AR Dungeons And Dragons Nolzur’s Marvelous Mini Young Blue Dragon, AR Dungeons And Dragons Nolzurs Marvelous Minis Wave 15 Quick Pick, AR Pathfinder Deep Cuts Mini Balisse And Astral Deva, AR Pathfinder Deep Cuts Mini Brain Collector, AR Pathfinder Deep Cuts Mini Giant Centipede, AR Pathfinder Deep Cuts Mini Gnome Bard Female, AR Pathfinder Deep Cuts Mini Halfing Monk Male, AR Pathfinder Deep Cuts Mini Human Alchemist Female, AR Pathfinder Deep Cuts Mini Human Fighter Female, AR Pathfinder Deep Cuts Minis Wave 15 Quick Pick, AR Starfinder Deep Cuts Mini Human Mechanic, AR Starfinder Deep Cuts Mini Kasatha Operative, AR Starfinder Deep Cuts Mini Shirren Technomancer, AR Starfinder Deep Cuts Mini Skittermander Envoy, AR Starfinder Deep Cuts Mini Vesk Soldier, AR Starfinder Deep Cuts Minis Wave 15 Quick Pick, AR WizKids Deep Cuts Mini Bounty Ballista, AR WizKids Deep Cuts Mini Bounty Hunter And Outlaw, AR WizKids Deep Cuts Mini Bounty Trebuchet, AR WizKids Deep Cuts Mini Plague Doctory And Cultist, AR WizKids Deep Cuts Minis Wave 15 Quick Pick, AR

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[filbobaggins]

Words of Radiance - book review

Words of radiance is the 2nd book in the stormlight archive and another >1000 page behemoth split across 2 paperbacks. I finished it in a month. If that doesn’t tell you how good it is, I don’t know what else to say. After finishing the first book of this series which I have also reviewed I knew I had to get my hands on the second and it was indeed very much worth it.

This 2nd book picks up right where we left off and continues to follow the stories of Kaladin, Dalinar and Shallan alongside a huge cast of smaller supporting characters. The format of the book is similar to the first with 5 parts separated by interludes designed to further flesh out the world while placing the characters' stories in the context of the overarching narrative. However, once again, while the story and world of these books is epic in scale and scope, the writing somehow manages to focus on and tell deeply personal stories within it all.

The 2nd book significantly ramps up the stakes of the story, as expected after the ending of the first book, and there is a much more considerable degree of tension from the get go. The pacing of the novel is fast with twists and turns coming every chapter and yet it never feels rushed. And with a ramp in stakes comes a ramp up in fantastical elements and power levels. I mean, who doesn’t find the idea of 2 soldiers with magical swords fighting in the air as they use their magical powers to fly through a giant storm that threatens to destroy the world just really fucking cool. The visuals accompanying the biggest battles and encounters of this story are really quite breathtaking at times and really add something to the story. The first book benefited from the mystery surrounding the magical elements of the story, but as the 2nd fleshes them out more it does well to make the various powers seen unique, interesting and surprising in many different ways.

Now, if the first book was considered to be Kaladin’s book, as I think it very easily could be, this book very much belongs to Shallan and I was honestly really glad to see that. While Kaladin is our typical brooding fantasy hero, Shallan represents a breath of fresh air. She is a character full of wit and life and is just honestly a really fun character with a loveable personality. The book certainly does not go easy on her though, slowly revealing both a tragic backstory while forcing Shallan through a series of perilous situations. And I think that juxtaposition is what makes this character really shine.

As in The Ways Of Kings, the book is filled with philosophy and we get a really great insight into the minds of our heroes and the internal struggles they face which in many ways turn out to be just as, if not more compelling, than their external struggles. And the book does a really clever thing here with its magic system by tying the magic to the minds and philosophies of the characters. This is used most effectively in the way Shallan’s powers are shown to be powered by ‘lies’. In this way we get to experience Shallan’s struggle to process the trauma she experienced in her past, admitting to things that happened rather than lying about them, even to herself. The book also gets to explore what exactly makes a lie. In fact, it has a lot of interesting ideas on lies and how we view them, such as: Hiding the truth, half-truths, the power of lies, how we understand lies, amusing depictions of metaphors and the idea of art and writing as a lie.

Shallan learns all this as the factions and ideologies of the people of the world slowly begin to be explained, learning from mentors, friends and foes alike, and through betrayals, tragedy and some good old scholarly investigation. The book is deliberate in its own lies making you question every word and look for secrets that surely lie within the pages. I think this is what makes some of the later reveals of the book so effective. Although these reveals are sudden and surprising the information was there, but hidden beneath various lies that were yet to be revealed. The book almost taunts us about certain reveals and this makes them all the more effective when they finally occur.

Shallan experiences an incredible growth as a character throughout the book as she slowly finds her place in the world. Her story is a coming of age story of sorts but it is also all about confidence, heroism and overcoming trauma. It’s a story that is very difficult to describe all the intricacies and beautiful moments of and really anything I say would not do it justice and would likely just sound wrong. Honestly, Shallan reminds me very much of someone I know who is perhaps going on a similar journey herself and that just made me love the character even more. The character is unique, sure, but I think the characters in these books in general are just so human and it is impossible to not connect them to ourselves and those around us. What this character goes through is impossible to understand and comprehend really but the strength she shows to keep going through it and the joy the character spreads despite all her internal suffering is a really magical thing to witness. There is a moment later in the book where Kaladin questions how she can be so positive and childish and fun all the time and Shallan breaks down revealing parts of her story she had never shared before and there’s just a moment where Kaladin just understands and I can’t really explain what exactly but let's just say, look out for those same positive people in your own lives cos they may well be holding a lot behind those beautiful eyes.

The aforementioned moment is one of many great character moments in the story. As the stories of the main characters start to intertwine, far more than in the first book, a lot more is learnt about each of them simply from their views of each other. We learn a little more about how these characters appear to others and in a way it deepens their humanity just as much as our insight into their own minds.

Another thing I think the book should be praised for is how Kaladin's story is handled. After the end of the first book you’d be forgiven to believe that Kaladin’s journey, at least in an internal sense, was finished but this is far from the truth. I think the novel does a great job of showing how recovery from the dark places we may find our minds in life is not just a simple process that is achieved through one massive triumph. Kaladin is still learning, still struggling and his journey is far from finished. So often, heroes discover their purpose and then that is it, they become perfect humans and never fail again. But reality isn’t like that, no one is perfect, and healing takes time. We are all human and the book acknowledges that and even spends time explaining that to the reader. As humans we continuously change, grow and evolve and this is shown once again in the way the heroes powers are tied to their philosophies. The book poses some difficult moral dilemmas and for me, the end of Kaladin's story provides the most compelling argument I have ever heard for a philosophy I myself really love. You’ve probably hurt the quote, ‘when giving the choice between being right or being kind, choose kindness’. Well, Kaladin’s arc in this book ponders that very question and as I said, provides the perfect argument for choosing kindness, an admittedly difficult task given the circumstances presented in the book.

Dalinar remains the weakest character in this book but his story is not without merit and really ties the story together. Dalinar provides an essential tie between the characters and this is emphasized in his eventual title. As a whole his character does not grow that much but this is only because there is little growth for the character to experience. Dalinar is an older wiser character, more at the end of his journey than the beginning like many others. And so in this way he is able to mentor and guide some of the other characters towards their goals.

The side characters continue to be unique and memorable from the ever cryptic, Wit, the refined and very definition of strong independent women, Jasnah, and a whole cast of others such as the mischievous Amaran, scheming Sadeas, lovable members of Bridge 4, and the brothers Renarian and Adolin. Adolin continues to be an interesting semi-main character showing his fair share of brilliance and heroism and character growth throughout the book however the story leaves his character in an interesting and precarious place and definitely makes Adolin a character to watch going forward. His relationship with Shallan is honestly adorable and a really nice bonding of characters and ideals but that is another area that could take many unexpected routes in the future. This relationship leads to yet another beautiful moment for Shallan in which she really shows how her past has affected her and how she has grown. When Adolin promises to protect her and that no harm will come to her again after a difficult encounter she is not passive and welcoming of this like your typical female character would be but instead is actively angered by the idea of being locked away from the world and her goals as she has been in the past. It’s a great message and character moment. Finally, it is worth mentioning how the villains and morally grey characters of the story are also very intriguing characters and we do get the opportunity to see the world through their eyes throughout the book. Many are likely to return and I look forward to where they are taken next.

And so we get to the finale of the book. The final act of the book is on a much greater scale than the finale of the first book and is just really epic in all meanings of the word. Everything really comes together and for the first time in the series the 3 main characters alongside many of the best side characters are all involved. Admittedly, the events that transpire in the final act are perhaps more predictable than the finale of the first book; however the ending is not without its surprises. In similar fashion to the first book, the closing chapters are filled with unexpected twists leaving many loose ends behind. We visit all corners of the world checking in with a myriad of characters wrapping up many different stories that have been weaved throughout the overarching story. As a whole this book had a lot more twists occur throughout the story rather than just at the end but that does not make some of the ending twists any less effective. One reveal in particular, left me reeling at its obviousness and yet I never would’ve seen it coming, thanks in part to the book continuously teasing it and then making a point of not revealing it and instead further denying it will happen. As always, the information was right there, and yet the reveals are just as effective as those as the end of the first book and have left me just as eager to get my hand on the next book.

So yeah. If you’ve read all that, I suppose it’s rather clear that I loved this book and would recommend it to anyone. I hope you can gain as much joy from it as I did.