I finished Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman last week. It's the first book of Dungeon Crawler Carl series.

I mentioned the week before that the litRPG doesn't have high stakes, since you know nothing is going to happen to your character and it's just going to get stronger and stronger, but I failed to realise that this happens when you don't care about any side characters. Which is not to say that something happens (or doesn't happen) to side characters, but that the side characters are well written that you care about them.

Started The Novice by Trudi Canavan. The second book in The Black Magician trilogy.

The first book was completely focused on one place and one task, this book expands the world, and different characters are doing completely different things so it's interesting to see how things will develop. I am still in the start though, and while the book feels as quick to read as the first one, it has quite a bit of bullying in it (at least in the start, where I am), and I am not a fan of reading that, so the progress is going pretty slow. Going to stick with it though, cause it feels like the kind of book where our protagonist is going to become super powerful, with somewhat "good" ending.

What about all of you? What have you all been reading or listening to lately?

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I retired this year, and I have apparently read 12 books so far.

Most recent two...

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

Really like this. Very different from my usual fare.

Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds

Meh. Interesting story, but not my favorite style by a margin.

I've just finished reading through Batman Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth (written by Grant Morrison with artwork from Dave McKean), which a friend lent me after we'd been discussing the Arkham games. It was pretty cool, full of symbolism and gorgeously creepy artwork. The actual narrative I found confusing though. Thankfully there's a copy of the original script at the end with annotations that explains everything!

For my book club I'm most of the way through Nevada by Imogen Binnie. It's been fun so far, with an endearing/easy-going writing style that reminds me of a blog post. Some really great insights into coming to terms with being trans.

And I'm also halfway through An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro. This is another one that a friend lent me a while back and I hadn't got around to reading. But I'm going to a festival this week, and I didn't want to bring my Kobo in case it gets damaged or stolen, so I opted for a physical book. I'm doing an admin shift during the festival which tends to involve sitting around not doing much for an hour or so at a time. May as well do some reading! Anyway this book has felt quite cosy and charming; I like Ishiguro's prose.

Finished Golden Son by Pierce Brown. Book 2 in the Red Rising series. Really enjoyed this one. Picks up the action and intrigue super quick. Overall like a 9/10 for me

Also about halfway through Amber and Ashes by Margaret Weis. Its a D&D book in Krynn which Weis wrote a number of books for. Its ok. Kind of what i expect from these types of books.

I started reading Towers of Midnight by Brandon Sanderson, book 13 of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time. Feels good to get back to this series after some months. The end is in sight. Sanderson is doing a great job moving things along and resolving plot threads that have been hanging for 10 books or so.

I'm working on John of John by Douglas Stuart. It's a lot more literary than the last few books I've read, but it's good. There's a lot of conflict between the father and son characters and it's interesting.

Finished Recursion by Blake Crouch based on someone else's recommendation in one of these threads a few weeks back. Wasn't bad at all.

Finished Pretenders to the Throne of God by Adrian Tchaikovsky, book 4 of the Tyrant Philosophers series. SO good. Maybe the best one yet.

Now reading Hidden Empire by Kevin J Anderson, book 1 of his "Saga of the Seven Suns" series. I've never read any of his books before; it's not bad, but Anderson is no Tchaikovsky. Feels almost Asimov-ish so far, but I'm only 1/4 through it.

I too just finished dungeon crawler Carl book 1. I almost gave up on it quick - it started off juvenile and a bad “video game to book” translation. But it grew on me - I’m more than halfway through book 2 now and it keeps getting better. I think it might be worthy of the hype! ;)

Katabasis by RF Kuang. Listening not reading. Its dark academia fantasy and the first time I've been introduced to any of her novels. Its a decent listen so far. I might try out the Poppy Wars since I heard those are great

I stopped at the first book. I'm really glad other people like it, but the time spent on all the item descriptions really weighed it down for me. I hope it keeps getting better for you!

I just finished sky full of elephants, and I really didn't enjoy it. I thought the premise was so good, but everything about the execution left me cold. I didn't feel like the author wrote interesting characters to remember. I don't feel like the world building made any sense. I don't feel like the themes were deep at all, and the language/sex/drug content means that surely it's not for kids. A huge bummer.

finished Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman last week.

I finished up the most recent DCC book a little while back (and they are great) but my god the paragraphs of game guide description stuff is too much...

Currently reading Dungeon Crawler Carl: The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook. Finished listening to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. Started listening to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Life, the Universe, and Everything.

Pushing Ice was great, I have more Alastair Reynolds on my reading list.

Still working through Want submitted by Anonymous Curated by Gillian Anderson

I am not a big nonfiction reader but love this book so much! I read a few submissions a night and it’s just delightful.

I plowed through The Odds by Jeff Strand last week. Both this and the other book I've read by him (Allison) are what I call "popcorn horror": hits the ground running, kind of fluff, sort of action-y, slightly humorous while still being pretty horrific. It wasn't my favorite, but it was kind of exactly what I needed to get me out of my slump.

I'm currently partway through A Murder of Quality by John le Carré. Not a particularly noteworthy murder mystery so far, but I'm enjoying it anyway.

Still reading "The Path of Daggers" by Robert Jordan, book 8 of the Wheel of Time-series. Still enjoying it, 41% now. Reading other books for my studies also.

Really enjoyed the Red Rising series until book 4. Had to take a break after that book it just wasn't as interesting as the others since they start following other characters from their point of view. I had become used to hearing the story from Darrow's POV.

Oo boy, I may have bitten off more than I can chew this week. Let's see here:

1. Anthropause by Stan Cox — rationale for gearing economies for degrowth.

2. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin — needs no introduction in this place.

3. Into the Blue by Emma Brodie — my partner's request and my current audiobook

4. The Art of War by Sun Tzu — a re-read of this 2500 year old field guide.

Finished Behemoth by Scott Westerfield. Fun little series, just an easy summer read.

Finished A Trade of Blood by Robert Jackson Bennett, and this is fantastic. My favourite book of the year so far. Honestly the Ana and Din Mysteries are exceptional.

I finished The Ascendents by Jazza Brooks on my commute this morning. I'll probably make a separate post to go over my thoughts and feelings on it, but overall I'd say it's a good 8/10, would recommend to any scifi/grim dark fans.

Currently reading Geek Love by Katherine Dunn. A story about a family of carnies and circus freaks. It's interesting but it's been a slow read for some reason. Haven't read as much as I should've for years (trying to fix that) and it's just not my usual thing I guess. I don't usually read more than one book at a time but I'm thinking I might move on to some others on my list and come back to this from time to time.

Finished "the wandering inn" by Pirateaba. I thought it was a really thick book, but it turns out I had downloaded a bundle, so I tought I wasn't even 20% through when it read "end of volume one". So now I'm reading volume two I guess since I've kept on reading. I really liked the first volume even though the fantasy genre is something I've been avoiding for the last year or so.

Loved Pushing Ice. I've read all the Revelation Space/Prefect books and they were really good but not as good as Pushing Ice.

Currently reading The Android's Dream by John Scalzi. Really funny and goofy but surprisingly intense. It feels like reading a late 90s action film.

I think its meant to be listened to rather than read. So i can imagine it being not a great read honestly.

I think John Scalzi is always fun!

Going through the hanish cycle still, on the left hand of darkness (two more left). this and the dispossessed really do stand out so far.

How did you find DCC in the end, did you enjoy it?

I'm just about to roll over into book 6 of He Who Fights With Monsters. I said it somewhere before but I think it is probably better than DCC in my opinion.

There isn't a lot in it and if you hate the item descriptions or stat regurgitations in DCC like a few people in this thread are saying then you will hate the excessively long stat lists that this has too, but I love it!

Just got books 7 - 12 so that I can just keep on rolling through. I am going to return to Dresden once I'm through with this but it is going to be another 150 hours or so before that happens xD

Would you happen to be aware of how many more books there are going to be of He Who Fights with Monsters?

The radio play for hhgtg is highly worth while as well.

If you liked recursion, which IMO was fun but a little easy to poke holes in you should consider ted chiang (IMO The best short SciFi story writer)

Ooh I remember liking The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, though I can't remember what it was about now 😅

I haven't quite started, but I recently finished my latest read (The Will to Change) and will be starting Seeing by José Saramago tomorrow! I'm excited.

Finished “Witchcraft for Wayward Girls”. It needed tighter editing. It’ll make a decent movie someday. It’s saved by its wonderful epilogue.

Just started reading No prophets: the fight to save democracy from Christian nationalism by Jared Huffman, a California Representative. Very important, very urgent, and a quick easy read.

Ah yes, that's familiar. I see it was published in 2014, which is probably around when I read it, so I feel justified in not remembering 😆

I'm reading "If We Burn" by Vincent Bevins. I read "The Jakarta Method" last year which was really good, incredibly informative. I think "The Jakarta Method" should be required reading for all Americans. "If We Burn" is an analysis of various protest movements of the 2010s and their motivations. I just started, so I'm not sure what he learns yet.

I don't know I'm afraid. There is book 13 coming in October of this year but I haven't found any indication of how many books are planned in total. Sorry.

Dragon Champion by E. E. Knight. A friend lent it to me after I mentioned re-reading Anne McCaffrey's Pern novels. It's fun.

Just finished Fool's Quest by Robin Hobb. I'm eagerly anticipating the next one once I get it from the library!

How far through Left Hand of Darkness are you? I read it a year or two back. I want to ask you about something midway (maybe 2/3?) through the book, but I don't want to spoil anything.

All good, I appreciate your reply! Honestly I recall you mentioning the series in the last thread, which is how I learnt about it - thank you! I just know I'm more drawn to series that for sure wrap up 😅

If you are looking for litrpgs that already have an end then I can definitely recommend Buy Mort: The Shopocalypse Saga.

I enjoyed that a lot and it has already wrapped up so if the concept sounds appealing then may be a good one for you :)

If you liked it, read Replay by Ken Grimeood. A one of a kind book IMO.

Re reading some discworld novels.

Now on my to-read list, thanks!

Currently listening through basically everything by "Robin Hobb". Started with the Farseer Trilogy, currently closing the Liveship Traders. It's playing in a light fantasy realm.

The Farseer Trilogy was rather depressing, but had something dark and alluring about it. Liveship Traders is okay. Helps to pass the time, but doesn't really capture me.

I'm only 100 pp. in, about 30%. Ill try to remember to reach back out as I cross that threshold.

I liked Replay by Ken Grimwood. So I guess I should try The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, right? 😀

The item descriptions were one of the things that I found so funny. If you didn't like them, I can see you not enjoying the book as much.