Looking forward to reading The Bone Ships, ordered myself a copy after I stumbled across it on Goodreads. Seen as you said you love sea faring books, have you read Saltblood by Francesca De Tores? I would definitely recommend, I found it resembled the Treasure Island story and Black Sails - a show that I watched a few years ago and that had similar characters in, mainly Captain Flint, Long John Silver (the show not the book), Billy Bones etc...

half a soul gives off Howls Moving Castle vibes...

I loved being dropped right into the action, into a world that's already existing and in motion, and we discover it only as it comes in bits and pieces through the lens of the characters. And the writing style itself was absolutely magical. Plus all the references to mythology, mathematics, technology, history, the arts, all of it weaved throughout.

I would recommend Crimson Bound, a pastoral fantasy by Rosamund Hodge. I love Uprooted and it's one of my favorites. Like you, I have reread it more times than I want to admit.

I just finished binge reading this trilogy - and enjoyed it so much! Sad to finish it. Wish there was more of it. Sigh. Vargo - I would have liked more of Vargo. PS - I will take your advice and check out the Natural History of Dragons...

What a didn't like about book 1 is that I felt like I was reading 2 different books, and I was unsure to continue, but the stuff you said about a little bit of psychological horror sounds interesting.

Here are more Indian inspired books; The forest of enchantments - retelling Ramayan from Sita point of view. The Palace of Illusions is the retelling Mahabharata from Draupadi point of view. (both books are from the perspective of women)

Woah, hon, slow down! It sounds like this has been sped up, and I don’t like rushed reviews. I’d rather listen to enjoy the book than try to tell me your opinion behind a shadowy corner.

Do you have a link to this Reddit post you mentioned?

Its been 2 years since i bought this and im finally free to read it! I tend to like binging so im hyped

I loved reading the Renegade series but I felt a little disappointed about the ending. I can't exactly say why though.

I just started reading TJ Klune and really enjoyed this story. I hadn't realized about all of this. I have done a lot of reading, research, etc about ingenious histories and current situations because I am interested.

I like this one the least. Got way too convoluted. I get what it’s trying to do and he may have done it well but having the same thing repeat over and over was ugh.

I had/have very bad arachnophobia but wanted to try getting over it, and Children of Time at least helped give me a lot of motivation toward that! I felt that having arachnophobia made its point about the difficulty but eventual rewardingness of embracing the Other even more poignant lol. Favorite series of all time! Book 1 was actually my least favorite lol, didn't like the human parts. I think Book 2 was my favorite, We and the octopi were both amazing, and Senkovi's little chapters still stick with me today

Watching this having just been to see the new adaptation of Ballet Shoes at the National Theatre in London. It is still one of my favourite ever books and watching the play I felt like I was 7 again. I also like Curtain Up (which is now called Theatre Shoes) which is set in the same school as Ballet Shoes, and the Fossils do appear in it via letters. The Painted Garden is another great one (out of print apparently). The main character in this one moves with her family to Los Angeles and ends up playing Mary in a film adaptation of The Secret Garden. Given that The Secret Garden is my other favourite children's book, this is a great one for me. Like you, I also liked White Boots as a child. The other one I read was Apple Bough but I can't remember much about that. I did buy Dancing Shoes at the theatre last night (originally published as Wintle's Wonders) as this seems to be one that I never came across as a child.

Have literally just finished City of Last Chances and jumped online to see what other folks thought - found your video! Personally I had a blast with the book, but I will say it was as an audiobook and I reckon that made a big difference to my connection to the characters and understanding of what on earth was going on! It’s narrated by David Thorpe who did a magnificent job on Cage of Souls by Tchaikovsky, and he didn’t disappoint me with this one. All the voices are distinct and full of life, and the choice of accents for the different nationalities in the city are excellent - we’ve got Scottish, Irish, Russian, English, Scandinavian and it all works to make it much easier to follow who’s who and what’s what. Am a huge fan of AT’s science fiction, this is my seventh book of his and my first foray into his fantasy writing. Will definitely try more. Completely agree that his stuff does tend to stray into overwritten territory tho! But his imagination, attention to detail and humour always keeps me engaged. Great review, would be interested to see how you got on with a redemption re-read via the audio 😉

What was that last book comparison recommendation? I couldn’t catch it. Song for the something? Sound for the something?

Thank you for this review, you were able to name pros and cons about it that I had just vague yes or meh feelings about. Eloquently put and a precise review! What I loved about this book as an artist is that it evoke images and ideas in my mind. I read it again recently only to collect inspiration for art pieces. The Nightmare especially and his rhymes spoke to me. I'll link your review in the art video I make about it next if that's okay with you? Best wishes, Francis ☀

What? You left? You're not coming back?! What's happening?!

This book felt like a first draft to me. I wish they’d done more work on the character development (cause I see zero reasons why this woman is falling in love) and the dialogue which was just… ouch.

Check out Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy to read another multi-generalational terraforming adventure.

Yes I agree! My friend loves these books, and so I listened to the first audiobook while on my evening walks and I felt like I just didn't remember what happened in the book.

THERE IS A THIRD ONE!!!!

Has anyone here read I Capture the Castle? Another good and weird book by Dodie Smith. Reads like an homage to Jane Austin with splashes of pagenism and just general oddness. :p

Thank you Judith for this rec. I immediately borrowed it from my library and thanksn to your review, that the beginning would start off slower in comparison to the other two parts, I loved the book throughout. The beginning reminded me somewhat of the character driven books of the Wayfarer series, which I loved, so I did not mind. But I agree still. If I went in expecting only a book as it becomes later on, the beginning would have dragged. Thank you!

Circle of magic and the Circle opens by Tamora pierce is also really good series.

Loved them ❤

i'M struggling with it guys, i don't find it interesting, I haven't read the main series, I thought that I should start with this, I'm 173 pages deep, in 2-3 weeks...not good at all, will I enjoy the main series more ? i just find this a bit boring,please don't kill me in the comments

Ive got this from the library. Looking forward 2 it more now. Ty.🙂

This is my first Naomi Novik book I’ve ever read. Spoilers! I loved it. For 3/4ths of the book, I read “Jaga” with a hard J sound, like “Ja-guh” I felt really dumb when she gets outside the tower and someone asks her if she’s like “Baba Jaga.” I realized it was referencing “Bah-bah yah-guh” the entire time. 😅

Just finished the series , truly blown away. Some of the big sequences gripped me more than peak Marvel action setpieces. The bleaker tone of book 3 took me a while to connect with, but the ending sequence brought it all home.

Ah, Judith, you've absolutely hit the nail on the head with this review! Your insights into Good Omens are as sharp as Crowley’s cheek and as warm as Aziraphale’s heart. I dare say, you’ve turned this video into a delightful blend of humour and wisdom-much like the book itself. Your enthusiasm is infectious; one can practically feel the turning of those well-loved pages. Cheers for such a cracking review! I’m off to re-read the book with your thoughts in mind. Absolutely dead good!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. And am looking forward to book 2. Something that really struck me in particular - was the detective character focusing her brain power by removing sensory input (blind-folding her eyes). This year, I did this accidently regarding smells - I bought an air purifier to rid my room of the stench from my neighbor's sudden pot smoking addiction (also sealed up a leaky window). After running this air purifier 24x7 for months - I noticed that by having a neutral smelling room - no smells of any sort wafting through all day long - I do have an improved focus on my work (this room is my office). I also have a more heightened noticing of smells when I go out of this room. I thought the plant-based technology was fascinating. I also felt that this book is a read only once book. Once you know the ending - the clues - I think it would be less readable. If that makes sense. I thought the book was slow getting into it also --- I thought that the problem (for me) was the language ---- I never studied Latin --- and the book just felt full of weird new words. Which is ok. I like that. But it does slow down the reading a bit.

I loved the magic system - and the exploration of it in the first two books. I never understood the heirophant thing at all. I really enjoyed the first two books, but I had a hard time appreciating book three. Sigh.

This is literally my favorite book series. I'm going to have to carry this fandom on my back

Welcome to booktube 📚☕

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Okaaaaay! Thank you for the review.

Haven't and no plans to read. So many hard sci-fi and epic fantasy series, plus horror out there. I read slowly and want to concentrate on more serious stories.

Funnily enough I read the world we make before i read the city we became! I fell in love with the whole story and my only concern was that i felt a bit lost because it felt like i was thrown into a story midway… Which i was cuz i started with the second one. Currently reading the first one and Im happy to say it’s going great. :) Awesome review

For a recommendation similar to this book, check out the Murderbot series by Martha Wells -- you'll be amazed!

Haven't read any of the books yet, but I'm planning on listening to them using audio books, because my partner insists I do it! He keeps renting the books at the library, so I've bought him the first two, so he can read them whenever he wants, and maybe I'll read them after he's opened his birthday and Christmas presents. Honestly, I think he'll be happier with me actually having read the books than me giving him the physical books to keep 😂

Just typed this into KZbin out of nostalgia - nice recap. Interestingly I remember not liking the earlier books as much as the later ones, the former (especially Deepwoods) being a bit too chapter by chapter for my liking when I was eleven or whenever. I remember really liking the machinations between the factions of academics and merchants etc and the concept of a floating city of corrupt and cultish academics was very evocative. The Rook trilogy was my favourite - the stone sickness plot device was a really cool way of bringing a kind of scarcity economy to the world, and I remember being really fascinated by Vox (the book and the charcter - i even planned and wrote some fanfic about that book, although i cannot remember anything about it 😂) I'm not sure how much the protaganists would bother me if I went back though; not only the gender but often I feel the biggest drawbacks when trying to go back to your childhood books is characters are often quite bland looking back.

Read your note on patron- was having a bit of withdrawal- Wanted let you know that you will be missed- OK you are missed. Hope you leave your old posts up. You were my FAVORITE. Much luck for the future.

Late to the party. This is now my favorite fantasy series. As far as hetero representation: to my knowledge: Doc, Sandus, Kihrin's father, Grizt (spelling?) and many others. Further, even as a completely hetero guy, I give credence to the idea that every immortal would be bi/pan eventually. I can't imagine sex with men. But give me 2000 years, I would probably get bored enough.

_Necromantic Science Fantasy_ is how I would describe the Locked Tomb series.

I just read this book I liked it and it was a great read

I actually hate the audio books because it doesn't sound at all like I would have done it let alone how I imagine it would sound especially because I don't like how the narrator narrates Eragons Dragon as a sort of croaky deep voice rather then a feminine vocal sound which is what I pictured in my head for how she sounded

Twig and the Banderbears will always bring tears to my eyes. I'll always appreciate the First Age of Flight the most, but the industrial side of things was a great natural progression to the world.

I was about to get this book and saw a reddit post saying something like " I'm sad there almost no straight representation" lol, as a gay guy whom lived a whole life with zero representation anywhere, I gasped lmao. I'm literally trying so hard to find a fantasy book where I can be silly and ship some characters, I guess this one might be it, ty!