From what you said at the beginning, I just wanted to say that I also love when you talk about classics and part of the reason I started reading classics is because of you. I just wanted to thank you for that.
@@averyforeman5208 I found her for Avatar but I used to love her classics wrap up and because of them I decided to try to read classics because I was scare of them
@@merphynapierreviewsI’m definitely interested in hearing about books in other genres! I read Monday’s Not Coming this year because of you. It was one of my favorites.
Sons of Darkness is by an indian author from the mainland, not native american not indian american . Indian from Asia he's a lawyer and a standup comedian. I can't wait to find out what you think!
-cat enters the chat. -I hit the like button. Your cat is super cute! Also, that's a solid TBR. I admire your ability to even attempt to keep to a plan like that!
Fun fact: Last Unicorn is Rothfuss' favorite book and Beagle is his favorite author. I always find it interesting which books authors love, especially if I love their writing. So in spite of the drama, I thought you might appreciate the info.
What?? We love the classics and the other genres. Thats actually part of the reason i watch you. We agree like 60% of the time when it comes to fantasy but in the other genres i know i can trust your review 80-90% of the time!
Special place in my heart for "The Last Unicorn." In my early 20s around 2013 my life had changed and I'd dropped off reading. I picked it up in 2018, and it was so well done, so well-written, atmospheric with a beautiful message, that it brought me back to why I loved reading so much in my childhood and teen years. It kicked me out of my sense that fantasy was best left to my childhood. It got me back into SFF books, and I haven't looked back since. I love it for that.
Merph... please move to a spoiler discussion on the Dresden Files! I am really excited to hear your real thoughts on the series, now that you are at Dead Beat and beyond, and that just can't be done in a spoiler-free way. I had waited for what felt like years for you to finally get to this series, and am always looking forward to the next month's review.
Only reading plans i have are finish Dandelion Dynasty, continuing Realm of the Elderlings and Wars of Light & Shadow, continue on with the various Malazan companion and prequel series. I also want to get back to some authors that I've neglected this year like KJ Parker, GGK, Abraham, LeGuin, Wolfe, Pratchett, Tchaikovsky, Butcher etc.
I always look forward to your Discworld thoughts. I loved Solaris when I read it too, so I look forward to when you read that. (And if you're a fan of Douglas Adams, I highly recommend one of Stanislaw Lem's more humorous books, The Cyberiad - a book of short stories which are essentially fables for robots.)
I looove when you talk about other genres too, I discovered Du Maurier thanks to you and she's one of my favorite authors now!! And omg Peter Pan??? Same for the Wager, such a great book!!
I've always loved how your channel focuses on so many different genres! That's one of the things that makes your channel unique (along with no other BookTuber being able to explain so well what they like and don't like about a book). Personally, my favorite genres are fantasy and Gothic novels, and I'm more interested in classics than sci-fi.
Ray Bradbury-The Illustrated Man is a must. It's a short collection with The Veldt, The Long Rain, and The City being the standouts. This book was my gateway to more grown up reading as in the 80's I was all about Choose Your Own Adventure and Endless Quest, though I did have a set of encyclopedia to browse. I DNF The Jasmine Throne as at some point it just dragged out into too many uninteresting pages. Are those guns from rock climbing? You look like you can punch to hurt. Gum Gum Pistol!
It's hard to go wrong with Ray Bradbury. In addition to The Martian Chronicles, two other major works you should ABSOLUTELY check out are Fahrenheit 451 and Dandelion Wine. That last one is a joy to be read whenever you are in nostalgia for either childhood or the springtime.
I really hope you like the Temeraire sequels; I have a lot of love for that series. The sequels to Annihilation were definitely not worth it to me though... But maybe you'll have better luck! Btw, I follow you for classics and other genres as well, so I would love it if you included those as well in the TBR :)
Since you're in a sci-fi wave, I went through one this year as well, I loved seeing you read the 3 Body Problem and Dark Forest, I'm still in the middle of Death's End, but I'd love to see your takes in a few other sci-fi I read this year one day! One is the duology A Memory Called Empire and A Desolation Called Peace, they're a good counterpoint to the 3BP and are way more character driven and hit home very hard for me on the immigrant/imperialism aspect The others are a collection of short stories Amazon released by 6 different authors, the collection is called The Far Reaches, and for me there were 3 really awesome ones and 3 not so great ones, but all very interesting on their own merits. I also have to thank you for talking about Ken Liu's short story collections at some point, I went and read Invisible Planets, a short collection from chinese authors that he translated, and it was absolutely amazing!
Prophet Song by Paul Lynch won the booker this year. In Ascension was long-listed but did not make the short list. It sounds really good though, it’s on my TBR as well.
My 2024 reading plans are a little outrageous, but I'm going to make it work. I'm going to finally read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, I know I'm so behind 😅 and I'm going to start diving into Brandon Sanderson. Along with finishing series I have started.
The Last Unicorn is one of my favorite stories. I've watched the movie countless times and I have a tattoo of 2 of the characters....but I actually haven't read the book yet, even though I own it. I'll probably read it soon as well and I hope I enjoy it as much as, if not better than, the movie!
Oh on my God of my God I LOVED In Ascention. It's not a first contact book. It's a bit slow but I loved it. Also, the writer got the biology so right (I'm a biologist). It didn't win the Booker price, it was only long listed for the prize
If you’ve never read them, might I recommend The Chronicles of Prydain to you. They are slightly on the younger side but I read them as an adult and loved them. It’s five books around the length of The Last Unicorn though (starting shorter, ending longer). I consider it one of the foundational epic fantasy series and Lloyd Alexander, the author is fantastic in his other writings too. Also similar to The Last Unicorn, Disney attempted to turn books one and two into “The Black Cauldron.” The books are much better with the final book winning the Newbery Award. The story of the main character, Taryn, is a masterclass in character arcs in a series. Anyway, I really think you’d love them. Hope you see this!
I read a lot of books from Adrian Tchaikovsky the last few years (and really liked them all) but i haven't read Cage of Souls yet. I'm going to read it in January as well now
I'd like to see you read more genres. For the first quarter of next year, it's prehistory to 500CE in Historathon. I'll try to read at least a couple of books for Historathon.
do you plan on continuing The Queen's Thief series? I remember you read the first book, The Thief, last year, and i was wondering if you would read the rest. it's one of my favorite series of all time, and the second and third books in the series are excellent!
I have so many on my TBR its overwhelming. I am trying to read all the books I own before I purchase new ones.... Do you know how hard that is. Plus I have books on my wish list for Christmas hahahah
I hope you like Last Unicorn! I read it last year and really enjoyed it! However the movie is a childhood favorite so I may have been a bit biased already. The movie follows the book pretty well but the movie cut out some pretty big sections.
You're talking about so many amazing books that are also on my TBR. I haven't read much the last quarter, but I hope to read more soon. Because there are so many great books
I looooved Sons of Darkness (of course Petrik brought it to my attention). It is at least in my top 3 of books I read this year. Can't wait for the second book. Solaris is also a favorite. I think you might like it.
I'm nervous and excited about you reading The Last Unicorn. It's my favourite book of all time and I almost never see people talking about it. Hope you end up loving it just as much as I did ❤
Empire of Silence is pretty good. I think it's very character driven, which should be a pull for you. I did have an issue with some of the hindsight talking (he's recalling all of this from some time in the future), so there's occasionally something along the lines of "Of course we all now know X for their triumph/betrayl/action". Like, just either lightly foreshadow or let us discover it when we come to it.
I am an impulse reader but I love coming here to get new or new to me book titles and I enjoy your personality. I'm also dyslexic and when you know you know. I just finished Beartown, there are people that don't enjoy this book [enjoy might be the wrong word but ya know] I can't relate to those people. lol
I don't plan on my books for a certain time period but I choose up to 8 for my TBR at a time. I'm currently reading Return to Paradise by James Michener, Heliotrope by Palmer Pickering, and Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson. I'm going to try to finish out some series in the next month so next on my list is King of Assassins by R J Barker, Sands and Starlight and Ravensby Od to finish out the Wonder Tales by Charlotte E. English, and A Realm of Shadows and Night of the Bold to finish out the Kings and Sorcerers series by Morgan Rice.
Can’t wait to see your vlog when you get to The Tainted Cup! It is so atmospheric, and I loved the main characters. My first 5-star for a 2024 release!!
I don't just tolerate the other genres. I'm really interested in that - especially classics...I mean your channel is about books in general, not just fantasy books right? 🙂
I’m glad you started the Temeraire books! The author knows a lot about the Napoleonic wars (I think she was a professor or something like that) which adds a cool dimension to the fantasy aspects of the story. Great series (with some notable low points tbh)
I'm not sure why, but I'm so excited for you to read A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking! I'm not sure why you think it's not for you. It's an absolute delight. Pure quick light fun with a better magic system than it has any right to :) I predict 4 to 5 stars 😊
I read the first two Temeraire books years ago. Last year I reread the first one and said to myself that was awesome why on earth do I only have 2 of these books! Reread the second and said, oh yeah thats why. I still only have read 2.
Thy aching isn’t evolution’s fault. The proof the butterflies our bellies breed. In paintings, Tristan ebbed into Iseult; a couple takes a selfie at the beach. We are the diagrams of outstretched limbs, though never still enough for Time to sketch because a husband arm is bending in to help his wife complete her pirouette. Where did the blushing in our cheeks evolve? Survival’s not the reason that they blush. Some magic’s much too primal in ourselves- -what apes we were? the magic can debunk. So, Time is not adept at drawing us. No. That’s an aching blessing up to us. I am Nicholas Leonard, and this is a sonnet that I wrote
Next paycheck I'm getting on your patreon so I can start trying to get other patrons to vote for you to read The Wandering Inn ❤ I'd love to see you talk about LitRPG's, and I think this series would be such a good intro to the genre!
Hey Merphy you said in a vlog you were going to do a dedicated review of something wicked this way comes. It's one of my favourite books so i'm looking forward to it! I'm just wondering when the review is coming?
Yay! The Wickwire Watch is so good! I can see it winning SPFBO. Also excited for you to read Empire of Silence. Though I am a little nervous. Liene seems to be the only female booktuber who has liked it. Hadrian gets pretty melodramatic so it's not for everyone.
My December TBR «Brother Red» by Adrian Selby (Grimdark Fantasy, standalone «mid-quel» to «Snakewood» and its standalone prequel «The Winter Road» inspired by Trading Companies such as the Hanseatic League or the East India Company) «After Rome» by Morgan Llywelyn (Historical Fiction set in a Post-Roman Britain) «The River of Stars» by Guy Gavriel Kay (Fantasy inspired by Song Dynasty China) «Bold Ascension» by Vaughn Roycroft (which I am expecting any day now!) My December MBR «Alv Erlingsson» by Tore Skeie (Historical Fiction about a 13th Century Norwegian Jarl who became a Privateer and Rebel) «Judas Blossom» by Stephen Aryan (Fantasy inspired by the Mongol Conquest of Persia) For 2024 I plan to start with «Stonehenge» by Bernard Cornwell (about the Creation of Stonehenge during the Neolithic Period), «Imperium» by Robert Harris (about the Roman Politician Cicero), «Når Landet Mørknar» (approx.: «When the Land Darkens”) by Tore Kvæven (set in the Norse Settlement of Greenland during the 13th Century, winner of the Norwegian Brage Prize for Best Norwegian Novel in 2018), «Egil Skallagrimsson» by Halvor Tjønn (about the (in-)famous 10th Century Icelandic Viking & Skald who became a Bloodsworn Enemy of the Norwegian Viking King Eirik Bloodaxe), «The Dragon Lord» by David Drake (Arthurian S&S), «The Last Light of the Sun» by Guy Gavriel Kay and the «Lyonesse» Trilogy by Jack Vance!
I read both A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking and The Last Unicorn this year. A Wizard's Guide to Defensive is probably my favorite read of 2023 - I seem to love T. Kingfisher much more when she's writing YA than when she's writing adult stuff. The Last Unicorn was fine. The movie is a very faithful adaptation imo, so I'd recommend just watching it instead 🤷♀What I will note about it, tho, is - for a classic fantasy, it has many prominent female characters who are both diverse in their characters and active in the story - Tolkien could never.
I know you get about a gazillion book recommendations every day but I'd love you to check out Wednesday Wars. Its a middle grade book about a Holling Hoodhood who goes through school and has a rough time with it. It's a quick read and a phenomenal heart warming story and I really wish I was better at recommending books.
Toll the hounds is the first Malazan book that was absolutely brutal to get through. It’s not the first tough book, as you know, but toll the hounds is just a slog. Didn’t enjoy getting through it at all. Good luck, I hope you feel differently.
Currently reading empire of silence I'm about 200 pages in and I just hit the 1st major plot twist And I was not expecting And it seems like we're gonna have a fun ride
From what you said at the beginning, I just wanted to say that I also love when you talk about classics and part of the reason I started reading classics is because of you. I just wanted to thank you for that.
Same.
I found her channel through her classics reviews when they used to get their own video. That feels like so long ago now
@@averyforeman5208 I found her for Avatar but I used to love her classics wrap up and because of them I decided to try to read classics because I was scare of them
I do more than tolerate the other genres, I love them! I like seeing what triggers your interest. Maybe you can add them at the end??
They'll still be in the weekly reading vlogs! And I'll add them to the next TBR if people are interested in them too ☺
@@merphynapierreviewsI’m definitely interested in hearing about books in other genres! I read Monday’s Not Coming this year because of you. It was one of my favorites.
Same! As much as I love fantasy, I easily get genre fatigue, so I like reading different genres between fantasies
@@merphynapierreviews I'm interested!
Sons of Darkness is by an indian author from the mainland, not native american not indian american . Indian from Asia he's a lawyer and a standup comedian. I can't wait to find out what you think!
A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking is one that I just randomly saw the title of and just immediately decided to read, and I really enjoyed it.
I enjoy hearing your reviews on the other genres. I have bought some based on what you said.
-cat enters the chat.
-I hit the like button.
Your cat is super cute!
Also, that's a solid TBR. I admire your ability to even attempt to keep to a plan like that!
Cat enters screen…immediately goes to chat to find the comment I knew had to be here. 🤣
Fun fact: Last Unicorn is Rothfuss' favorite book and Beagle is his favorite author. I always find it interesting which books authors love, especially if I love their writing. So in spite of the drama, I thought you might appreciate the info.
Sci-fi kick is the best thing. 😂We really need more sci-fi content in the community. 🤟
Return is great. I like planning, but then I change my mind when I get closer.
Wooo! Dresden Files on the TBR makes me happy :)
What?? We love the classics and the other genres. Thats actually part of the reason i watch you. We agree like 60% of the time when it comes to fantasy but in the other genres i know i can trust your review 80-90% of the time!
Special place in my heart for "The Last Unicorn." In my early 20s around 2013 my life had changed and I'd dropped off reading. I picked it up in 2018, and it was so well done, so well-written, atmospheric with a beautiful message, that it brought me back to why I loved reading so much in my childhood and teen years. It kicked me out of my sense that fantasy was best left to my childhood. It got me back into SFF books, and I haven't looked back since. I love it for that.
Merph... please move to a spoiler discussion on the Dresden Files! I am really excited to hear your real thoughts on the series, now that you are at Dead Beat and beyond, and that just can't be done in a spoiler-free way. I had waited for what felt like years for you to finally get to this series, and am always looking forward to the next month's review.
Only reading plans i have are finish Dandelion Dynasty, continuing Realm of the Elderlings and Wars of Light & Shadow, continue on with the various Malazan companion and prequel series.
I also want to get back to some authors that I've neglected this year like KJ Parker, GGK, Abraham, LeGuin, Wolfe, Pratchett, Tchaikovsky, Butcher etc.
I am 100% here for the classics and literary fiction, so keep talking about those! ❤
I always look forward to your Discworld thoughts. I loved Solaris when I read it too, so I look forward to when you read that. (And if you're a fan of Douglas Adams, I highly recommend one of Stanislaw Lem's more humorous books, The Cyberiad - a book of short stories which are essentially fables for robots.)
I like classics and nonfiction
Hooray for our sci-fi buddy reads! ✨Can’t wait to hear your thoughts on all these books! 😊
I looove when you talk about other genres too, I discovered Du Maurier thanks to you and she's one of my favorite authors now!! And omg Peter Pan??? Same for the Wager, such a great book!!
Temeraire!! hell yeah!! i'll try not to be too sad if/when you end up badmouthing my favorite series ever...
I've always loved how your channel focuses on so many different genres! That's one of the things that makes your channel unique (along with no other BookTuber being able to explain so well what they like and don't like about a book). Personally, my favorite genres are fantasy and Gothic novels, and I'm more interested in classics than sci-fi.
Same here with Jasmine Throne, everything about it says I should love it, but I just wasn't in the mood when I started it. I need to try it again.
Ray Bradbury-The Illustrated Man is a must. It's a short collection with The Veldt, The Long Rain, and The City being the standouts. This book was my gateway to more grown up reading as in the 80's I was all about Choose Your Own Adventure and Endless Quest, though I did have a set of encyclopedia to browse.
I DNF The Jasmine Throne as at some point it just dragged out into too many uninteresting pages.
Are those guns from rock climbing? You look like you can punch to hurt. Gum Gum Pistol!
It's hard to go wrong with Ray Bradbury. In addition to The Martian Chronicles, two other major works you should ABSOLUTELY check out are Fahrenheit 451 and Dandelion Wine. That last one is a joy to be read whenever you are in nostalgia for either childhood or the springtime.
@sleestack13. Good suggestions! I haven’t read those for a very long time.
F451 is one of my all-time favorites.
I’ve been meaning to reread The Martian Chronicles and have always wanted to read The Last Unicorn, so this gives me a reason to finally get to them!
I really hope you like the Temeraire sequels; I have a lot of love for that series. The sequels to Annihilation were definitely not worth it to me though... But maybe you'll have better luck!
Btw, I follow you for classics and other genres as well, so I would love it if you included those as well in the TBR :)
I am only half way through empire of silence but I think you’ll like it, it’s very character focused. It reads like a fantasy book basically
Since you're in a sci-fi wave, I went through one this year as well, I loved seeing you read the 3 Body Problem and Dark Forest, I'm still in the middle of Death's End, but I'd love to see your takes in a few other sci-fi I read this year one day!
One is the duology A Memory Called Empire and A Desolation Called Peace, they're a good counterpoint to the 3BP and are way more character driven and hit home very hard for me on the immigrant/imperialism aspect
The others are a collection of short stories Amazon released by 6 different authors, the collection is called The Far Reaches, and for me there were 3 really awesome ones and 3 not so great ones, but all very interesting on their own merits.
I also have to thank you for talking about Ken Liu's short story collections at some point, I went and read Invisible Planets, a short collection from chinese authors that he translated, and it was absolutely amazing!
You are the definition of chaos! But we all love it!
Lots of good books, I hope you enjoy them & find some new favorites
Really interested to see what you guys think of Solaris. Its something for sure lol
I'm reading Empire of Silence in January, really excited based on what Daniel, Mike and Petrik have said. Hoping to read Tainted Cup on release too.
I love your planned TBR. I'm a mood reader so this wouldn't work for me but kudos to you.
Prophet Song by Paul Lynch won the booker this year. In Ascension was long-listed but did not make the short list. It sounds really good though, it’s on my TBR as well.
Yay so happy you're reading the Temeraire series. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on the series
Authority and acceptance are wild. Completely different than you'll think. Also check out Borne by him, incredibly wierd
I'm currently enjoying The Wickwire Watch on audio and it's incredibly compelling. I love it a lot.
Please keep talking about the classics as well!! I love fantasy but I love hearing your perspectives on the classics!! Team count of monte Christo 🧐
The Martian Chronicles is one of my favorites of all time. Bradbury was a master.
My 2024 reading plans are a little outrageous, but I'm going to make it work. I'm going to finally read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, I know I'm so behind 😅 and I'm going to start diving into Brandon Sanderson. Along with finishing series I have started.
I was patiently waiting to hear fool’s errand…but alas
I’ve been waiting for this video!
It’s finally here!!
On an ancillary note, I really like the outro music.
Dresden, yeah ✨
I plan to read The Art of Prophecy. I tried earlier this year but the world was confusing. I loved the 2 main characters.
The Last Unicorn is one of my favorite stories. I've watched the movie countless times and I have a tattoo of 2 of the characters....but I actually haven't read the book yet, even though I own it. I'll probably read it soon as well and I hope I enjoy it as much as, if not better than, the movie!
I've had Sons of Darkness on my TBR for far toooo long. It sounds incredible!
Oh on my God of my God I LOVED In Ascention. It's not a first contact book. It's a bit slow but I loved it. Also, the writer got the biology so right (I'm a biologist). It didn't win the Booker price, it was only long listed for the prize
When your laptop turned into a cat and back again, now that was weird magic!
If you’ve never read them, might I recommend The Chronicles of Prydain to you. They are slightly on the younger side but I read them as an adult and loved them. It’s five books around the length of The Last Unicorn though (starting shorter, ending longer). I consider it one of the foundational epic fantasy series and Lloyd Alexander, the author is fantastic in his other writings too. Also similar to The Last Unicorn, Disney attempted to turn books one and two into “The Black Cauldron.” The books are much better with the final book winning the Newbery Award. The story of the main character, Taryn, is a masterclass in character arcs in a series. Anyway, I really think you’d love them. Hope you see this!
I would love to read Annihilation as well this might be the time to do so
I read a lot of books from Adrian Tchaikovsky the last few years (and really liked them all) but i haven't read Cage of Souls yet. I'm going to read it in January as well now
I'd like to see you read more genres. For the first quarter of next year, it's prehistory to 500CE in Historathon. I'll try to read at least a couple of books for Historathon.
do you plan on continuing The Queen's Thief series? I remember you read the first book, The Thief, last year, and i was wondering if you would read the rest. it's one of my favorite series of all time, and the second and third books in the series are excellent!
Hoping to get to Sons of Darkness early in the year too!
I have so many on my TBR its overwhelming. I am trying to read all the books I own before I purchase new ones.... Do you know how hard that is. Plus I have books on my wish list for Christmas hahahah
I hope you like Last Unicorn! I read it last year and really enjoyed it! However the movie is a childhood favorite so I may have been a bit biased already. The movie follows the book pretty well but the movie cut out some pretty big sections.
Empire of Silence is epic and is excellent.
You're talking about so many amazing books that are also on my TBR. I haven't read much the last quarter, but I hope to read more soon. Because there are so many great books
I'm so excited for The Last Unicorn! I loved the movie as a kid and finally read the book after college. I now own two copies.
I looooved Sons of Darkness (of course Petrik brought it to my attention). It is at least in my top 3 of books I read this year. Can't wait for the second book.
Solaris is also a favorite. I think you might like it.
I'm nervous and excited about you reading The Last Unicorn. It's my favourite book of all time and I almost never see people talking about it.
Hope you end up loving it just as much as I did ❤
Empire of Silence is pretty good. I think it's very character driven, which should be a pull for you. I did have an issue with some of the hindsight talking (he's recalling all of this from some time in the future), so there's occasionally something along the lines of "Of course we all now know X for their triumph/betrayl/action". Like, just either lightly foreshadow or let us discover it when we come to it.
I will continue to buddy read Temeraire with you. I loved the first book so much
I hope you read the sequel to An Unkindness of Magicians since you loved the first book so much. I’d love to hear your thoughts ☺️
I am an impulse reader but I love coming here to get new or new to me book titles and I enjoy your personality. I'm also dyslexic and when you know you know. I just finished Beartown, there are people that don't enjoy this book [enjoy might be the wrong word but ya know] I can't relate to those people. lol
I don't plan on my books for a certain time period but I choose up to 8 for my TBR at a time. I'm currently reading Return to Paradise by James Michener, Heliotrope by Palmer Pickering, and Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson. I'm going to try to finish out some series in the next month so next on my list is King of Assassins by R J Barker, Sands and Starlight and Ravensby Od to finish out the Wonder Tales by Charlotte E. English, and A Realm of Shadows and Night of the Bold to finish out the Kings and Sorcerers series by Morgan Rice.
In Ascension had an intriguing cover, I hope it’s good! 🤞
I dnf´ed Empire of Silence :( even though I went in really expecting to like it. So I´m really interested in what you´ll think of it!
You make me so excited to read!
Can’t wait to see your vlog when you get to The Tainted Cup! It is so atmospheric, and I loved the main characters. My first 5-star for a 2024 release!!
So curious what you think of Solaris. We had to read it in college and I hated it. And I normally like scifi
I don't just tolerate the other genres. I'm really interested in that - especially classics...I mean your channel is about books in general, not just fantasy books right? 🙂
I’m glad you started the Temeraire books! The author knows a lot about the Napoleonic wars (I think she was a professor or something like that) which adds a cool dimension to the fantasy aspects of the story. Great series (with some notable low points tbh)
For some reason I was scared of Cage of Souls. It was actually really good though
The Last Unicorn was made into a movie, where the author wrote the screenplay.
I'm not sure why, but I'm so excited for you to read A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking! I'm not sure why you think it's not for you. It's an absolute delight. Pure quick light fun with a better magic system than it has any right to :)
I predict 4 to 5 stars 😊
I read the first two Temeraire books years ago.
Last year I reread the first one and said to myself that was awesome why on earth do I only have 2 of these books!
Reread the second and said, oh yeah thats why.
I still only have read 2.
Sons of darkness is great petrik leo got me onto this book and empire of silence is really gòod that series gets better as it goes along
I am really happy you are going to check out "A wizard's art of defensive baking", i'm optimistic that you'll like T. Kingfisher's style!
Thy aching isn’t evolution’s fault.
The proof the butterflies our bellies breed.
In paintings, Tristan ebbed into Iseult;
a couple takes a selfie at the beach.
We are the diagrams of outstretched limbs,
though never still enough for Time to sketch
because a husband arm is bending in
to help his wife complete her pirouette.
Where did the blushing in our cheeks evolve?
Survival’s not the reason that they blush.
Some magic’s much too primal in ourselves-
-what apes we were? the magic can debunk.
So, Time is not adept at drawing us.
No. That’s an aching blessing up to us.
I am Nicholas Leonard, and this is a sonnet that I wrote
Next paycheck I'm getting on your patreon so I can start trying to get other patrons to vote for you to read The Wandering Inn ❤
I'd love to see you talk about LitRPG's, and I think this series would be such a good intro to the genre!
Hey Merphy you said in a vlog you were going to do a dedicated review of something wicked this way comes. It's one of my favourite books so i'm looking forward to it! I'm just wondering when the review is coming?
A very nice video.
Yay! The Wickwire Watch is so good! I can see it winning SPFBO.
Also excited for you to read Empire of Silence. Though I am a little nervous. Liene seems to be the only female booktuber who has liked it. Hadrian gets pretty melodramatic so it's not for everyone.
My December TBR
«Brother Red» by Adrian Selby (Grimdark Fantasy, standalone «mid-quel» to «Snakewood» and its standalone prequel «The Winter Road» inspired by Trading Companies such as the Hanseatic League or the East India Company)
«After Rome» by Morgan Llywelyn (Historical Fiction set in a Post-Roman Britain)
«The River of Stars» by Guy Gavriel Kay (Fantasy inspired by Song Dynasty China)
«Bold Ascension» by Vaughn Roycroft (which I am expecting any day now!)
My December MBR
«Alv Erlingsson» by Tore Skeie (Historical Fiction about a 13th Century Norwegian Jarl who became a Privateer and Rebel)
«Judas Blossom» by Stephen Aryan (Fantasy inspired by the Mongol Conquest of Persia)
For 2024 I plan to start with «Stonehenge» by Bernard Cornwell (about the Creation of Stonehenge during the Neolithic Period), «Imperium» by Robert Harris (about the Roman Politician Cicero), «Når Landet Mørknar» (approx.: «When the Land Darkens”) by Tore Kvæven (set in the Norse Settlement of Greenland during the 13th Century, winner of the Norwegian Brage Prize for Best Norwegian Novel in 2018), «Egil Skallagrimsson» by Halvor Tjønn (about the (in-)famous 10th Century Icelandic Viking & Skald who became a Bloodsworn Enemy of the Norwegian Viking King Eirik Bloodaxe), «The Dragon Lord» by David Drake (Arthurian S&S), «The Last Light of the Sun» by Guy Gavriel Kay and the «Lyonesse» Trilogy by Jack Vance!
Hope you have a better time with Empire of Silence than I did 😅 and that the second try with Jasmine Throne goes better!!
The Tainted Cup sounds like a thing called magical realism
Please read A Deadly Education also by Naomi Novik, it’s such a brilliant main character, I’m sure you’ll adore it! Best YA in DECADES.
Just read the Martian Chronicles it was a great read
I read both A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking and The Last Unicorn this year. A Wizard's Guide to Defensive is probably my favorite read of 2023 - I seem to love T. Kingfisher much more when she's writing YA than when she's writing adult stuff. The Last Unicorn was fine. The movie is a very faithful adaptation imo, so I'd recommend just watching it instead 🤷♀What I will note about it, tho, is - for a classic fantasy, it has many prominent female characters who are both diverse in their characters and active in the story - Tolkien could never.
Sons of darkness sounds so fun!
I have a lot of BOTM books on my TBR, it's kinda insane.
I know you get about a gazillion book recommendations every day but I'd love you to check out Wednesday Wars. Its a middle grade book about a Holling Hoodhood who goes through school and has a rough time with it. It's a quick read and a phenomenal heart warming story and I really wish I was better at recommending books.
CAT!!!
Curious - is Ursula Le Guin's Left Hand of Darkness still on the TBR or did i miss it in a vlog already?
Toll the hounds is the first Malazan book that was absolutely brutal to get through. It’s not the first tough book, as you know, but toll the hounds is just a slog. Didn’t enjoy getting through it at all. Good luck, I hope you feel differently.
Oh wow. TTH was my favorite Malazan book.
Glad I’m on the only one who has been hooked on Empire of Silence by Daniel 🤣
Can’t wait to hear your opinion ❤
Surprise visit from cat!
The Crimson Empire series by Alex Marshall is a MUST READ imho. Seriously, do yourself a favour!
Currently reading empire of silence I'm about 200 pages in and I just hit the 1st major plot twist And I was not expecting And it seems like we're gonna have a fun ride