This is giving a ape case to a baboon 😂

Moash > Lirin

An out-of-bottle fantasy that’s well worth reading and I want to create greater awareness: The Scar by Marina and Sergei Dyachenko.

I loooove this book and so enjoyed hearing you talk about it

I can't stand Dancer and the Vox... Am I just a bad person? The republic wasn't worth saving anyway. They should have gone for a constitutional monarchy with Mustang as the real benevolent sovereign. Crush the Vox. Imprison Dancer.

Having read the Silmarillion after the Iliad, I really enjoyed it and recognized some of its stylistic choices! It's tough to do on its own though.

If one doesn't read the Wheel of Time, Richard will look for them. Richard will find them, and will dump the books on them and wait in their room until they finish the series.

I just finished reading it, and I'm shattered. What a shift from the first book. I'm starting the next right now. I can't wait any longer to find out what happens next.

I'm swayed way to easily. Just subscribed at 1:11:52. And then proceeded to unsubscribe at 1:12:00.

No wonder I didn’t like it and couldn’t finish it. I did not like name of the wind at all and I really wanted to like empire of silence but I couldn’t get into it. Hyperion is one of my favorite books and I enjoyed neeuromancer as well. Hard sci fi is my fav. Maybe I will give this another shot after I finish oathbringer of the storm light series.

It's absolutely being review bombed. Does it mean that the show is good? No, two things can be true

You three need to do a group review of Blood Meridian together!

I loved Piranesi. Also The Emperor's Soul. IMO, that was Sanderson's best book by far. (My second favorite by him is Yumi and the Nightmare Painter.) Haven't read but Mort but it's on the list now!

Probably the best female character I have ever read! Reading this book as a parent is so emotional. I wish there were more fantasy with this focus on tone, character, and feminine strength. Love it so much!

You want some stained glass style prose? Memory, sorrow, and thorn by Tad Williams has probably the best prose I have ever read. It’s not for everybody because it’s incredibly slow burn and the Main character you either love him or hate him. I hated him personally.

I have some trouble with the way this discussion presented the two prose styles. I'm not quite sure what bothers me, but maybe the distinction between two prose styles seems just too simple, and does not capture the actual variety of fantasy prose styles. Tolkien and Le Guin surely do not use the same style, and Kay is different from both, though obviously you can trace influences and similarities between them. You could say the same thing about, say, Sanderson and Butcher. Here is a random sentence from A Wizard of Earthsea: "Rapidly and aloud he named the places and the boundaries of the village, and then spoke the fogweaving charm, but in among its words he enlaced the words of a spell of concealment, and last he cried the word that set the magic going." With two exceptions, the vocabulary here is very simple; "fogweaving" and "enlaced" raise the vocabulary level a bit, but both terms are crystal clear. The syntax is also clear and simple, yet it's a powerfully rhythmic sentence with a hint of archaism. There is nothing extraneous, no fluff, no stylistic excess. To me, this is a style that involves words that are very basic and simple, but it's still highly refined, poetic language. This use of simplicity to increase intensity is a hallmark of Le Guin's style, but I think it violates the notion that everyday language can only be used in a non-poetic style. I assume readers whose favorite writer is Sanderson would, at least in many cases, not care much for this sentence from Le Guin. But I suspect Sanderson's vocabulary is more complex than Le Guin's; he constantly uses new terminology for his invented worlds. Now I dislike Sanderson's prose style very strongly, and I love Le Guin. The latter brings me into her world in a single sentence, but Sanderson could not achieve the same effect in a whole chapter. I admit I've only read a little Sanderson. I was excited to start reading The Way of Kings, because it was so highly praised, but I couldn't tolerate it after 80 pages. It seemed lazy and bloated and cliched. In contrast, I really enjoy Jim Butcher's prose - I think he does achieve the ideal of completely accessible everyday language while still maintaining interest; he lets the story tell itself, as much as possible. So I'm not simply making a negative value judgment on all "accessible" writers. I think the main issue may be simply that some writers ask more from their readers, and others ask less. But it's not because the two ends represent two different styles. Writers at one end of the spectrum or the other can use very different prose styles to achieve what they want to achieve. One writer may use everyday language but still be highly demanding; another writer may use rococo language but be completely accessible (e.g., in The Dying Earth). It all depends.

Divine Rivals sounds like a fantasy version of the film "You've Got Mail." You guys have complained before about writers not taking time to develop the romance, but love growing through getting to know someone via letters can work very well. Lust doesn't get in the way, at least not at first. Btw, love your podcast.

HUH?!

Dang well put with the window analogy. Accurate

Really? 🙄

Dalinar's big moment in Oathbringer is arguably the best example of bravery in fiction. On the traditional sense of bravery, he's one man prepared to face down an entire army and an evil god all by himself. He also shows more of an emotional bravery, in that he rejects an easy out for his guilt and instead accepts full responsibility for his wrongs so he can become a better person than who he was.

I can't choose one, they both have very different style. Brandon Sanderson focus is on how much epic can the story be whereas Pierce Brown focuses on how much cruel, Dark and violent things I can do with the charcters.

laughs in Steven Erikson :D

The twist at the end was great, although I could see why you put the pieces together right away. You weren't emotionally invested anymore. With less enthusiasm about the direction the book is going, it allows your analytical side to take over entirely instead of what most people experienced was the shock and sorrow of Sevro dying. We were too busy being so upset and destroyed about that whole scene, along with Cassius's betrayal, that it was difficult to think about the one paragraph that hinted at this talking about mustangs plan like 3 chapters ago. To us, it felt like that was her plan falling apart, not that it was THE plan. I for one, figured it out differently. I still wasn't fully sure if it was part of the plan, so it was confirmed for me when Cassius started killing the knights and the plan was revealed. However, I started noticing how vastly different Darrow was internally narrating his grief for Sevro. For Roque, Ragnar, Tactus, and all his other good friends who have died, he put a ton of emphasis in his internal narration about the dread he feels thinking of their deaths. However, for Sevro, he barely thought about his grief, if at all. It was very inconsistent for his character. At first I thought that maybe he is experiencing a new state of shock that we have not seen from him thus far, but that thought was dismantled when he started replying to Cassius and Aja. Thats not shock, shock would be complete involuntary silence. He was entertaining their taunts and displays of power. Once I noticed this, I started thinking about the possibility of this being part of the plan, and perhaps Cassius actually is willing to work with them to dismantle the society and this was just an act. Then I started thinking why would Sevro dying be part of this plan? There is no way Darrow would allow Sevro to die as part of the plan. Then of course! Darrow once died too, back in Red Rising. Poetic for the same eyes (As Sevro has Darrow's red eyes) to experience the same state of false death by the same methods. Then wondering how Cassius even got in on this plan to begin with, and I remembered all about mustang's plan, and how shortly after she met with Cassius and they talked "off-screen". Darrow only references it once by asking her "Did you finally talk to him?" we just don't know who he was referring to. Anyways to sum it up, I thought the twist was done fantastically. I don't think it was as obvious as you think it is, though I definitely agree with you, there were WAY too many things that could have gone wrong for this plan to have worked. It was waaay too risky, and did not make sense for Mustang of all people to make. She cares deeply of her friends, in a way where she would not put them in such danger unless she was certain of the outcome. She is unlike Darrow in this sense, where he is fully willing to go through with any plan as dangerous as it may be, even if he had a slim chance at victory.. regardless of who is put in death's way. So there are definitely flaws to this twist, and how it was handled.

I think you both may have forgotten or maybe missed the reason why all the colors are more or so the same people in their respective color. The golds literally force them to be this way. They force implants on the pinks at a young age that cause horrible internal pain to force great pleasure upon themselves only when they are pleasuring a gold. They force blues at a young age to connect their nervous system to a computer chipset or some shit like that, making them all connected much like bluetooth connections and their only path in life is learning proficiency in computer arts, especially naval war ships. etc. etc. there is a reason why they are all the same, and this problem takes generations to resolve. They are also human, but forced to be the same.

Delete youtube. Just find your Channel Is great

I LOVED the scenes between Darrow and Cassius after Fa died. It was so sweet and beautiful and kind and it was the scene I was DYING for since Golden Son. I wanted their reunion and reconciliation and a return to the brotherhood they had in the institute. I yearned for them to be brothers again. And it finally happened. But you know what? I have been trained by Pierce Brown. I KNEW that this scene that I had been begging for… signed Cassius’s death warrant. I knew he was going to die before the book’s end. And the way that it happened ruined me

The opening of this episode was actually exactly what I did. I read the first book physically, then read the rest on Kindle Unlimited. I'm reading Bedlam Bride right now.

Fun video 😂😍

Austin, read this! Dudes, you gotta read Stephen King or H.P. Lovecraft at some point. (I recommend "Pet Sematary" as a good introduction quick read to King)

The only first line I remeber even after so many years is "A human body starts to decompose four minutes after death." It's a thriller tho, The chemistry of death, Simon Beckett. But my gods, it sets a tone so well.

You guys should do segments dedicated to video games I think ppl would def tune in to watch!! So much great fantasy in that medium !

For me it’s the consistently forced stupidity of “smart” characters just to further the plot that ruined it💀 I don’t think “oh they’ll probably die” is a good enough reason to put rebellion children in proximity of the best military weapons/sensitive information. For cunning war leaders that seems out of character. As is intentionally creating a culture where a third of your best and brightest die every year in a war they are losing😂

For me it’s the consistently forced stupidity of “smart” characters just to further the plot that ruined it💀 I don’t think “oh they’ll probably die” is a good enough reason to put rebellion children in proximity of the best military weapons/sensitive information. For cunning war leaders that seems out of character. As is intentionally creating a culture where a third of your best and brightest die every year in a war they are losing😂

For me it’s the consistently forced stupidity of “smart” characters just to further the plot that ruined it💀 I don’t think “oh they’ll probably die” is a good enough reason to put rebellion children in proximity of the best military weapons/sensitive information. For cunning war leaders that seems out of character. As is intentionally creating a culture where a third of your best and brightest die every year in a war they are losing😂

Listening to you two....If you want to know what women readers are looking for in a man, at least a fantasy man, the second book will give you a much closer idea. Not speaking for all woman, of course, or for that matter, myself necessarily. But I can tell you that it's not Tamlin. (Oops, got his name wrong in the previous comment.)

Battle Royal is better than Hunger Games.

If either of you goes on to read the second book, you'll discover that the actual romance in this series is not between Tamsin and Feyre (also, I agree with you about that awful name choice). I almost didn't read the second book because I hated Tamsin so much. Maas wrote him to appear to be the object of Feyre's (presumed and eventual) love, but he's the kind of guy every woman should walk away from. And fortunately (SPOILER!) she does. But before that happens, she nearly lost me as a reader. And then she did lose me after the third book. But I lasted that long, at least.

Lets gooo my fav GGK book

Emotional manipulation in the timestamps, this is a new low.

Great conversation guys but you'll just renamed the genre into a more descriptive name

When is the book 6 review coming out?

Hey Austin! Watched you guys’ video with Mike. Are you going to be recording anything on First Law? Would be amazing to see what you have to say/rating.

They will rate your game high as long as you pay them adequately. It’s never about the actual gameplay experience.

Is Prepotente bombastic enough for you?

It's called being a Xenophobe, you don't like aliens.

If I demand you do 5 and 6, will you?

Fourth Wings has its way to addictively penetrate readers’ minds. Over And over again. Including the sense of how “destructiveness” behaviour of easily killing ppl/things as if their lives are meaningless but their pride. First impression is harshly vicious plot of a story. Second impression is …. Hm apparently i missed some of crucial things here and there. Third impression is….. i actually missed LOTS of things i need to re-read. Again.😊

Since you now got a taste of historical fiction please read Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon, this book will knock your socks off! Debut author and I found it through the Brothers Gywnn… has the same feel as the Blacktongue Thief! Also try Boudica : Dreaming the Eagle by Manda Scott , it is masterful too! I also read Song of Arbonne, I bet you will love that GGK too, the 2nd half is 5 stars. There is main character called Blaise that is just amazing! Lastly, jump into the Lord of the Shattered Land book 1 of the Hanuvar Chronicles. It is very similar to the Witcher short stories but it is based off Hannibal & the Roman Empire! 😘

I hope every single one of your 33k subs picks this book up. One of the best books I ever read, I have recommended even to my literary fiction friends! 6 out 5 stars!!